Providence, RI (SportsNetwork. Dave Dravecky .com) - Ryan Arcidiaconos layup and foul shot -- the last of his team-high 21 points -- with 3.6 seconds remaining was the deciding margin, as No. 9 Villanova kept rolling with a 82-79 double-OT decision against Providence on Tuesday. Arcidiacono, a threat from the outside, was instead allowed room on the left wing and banked the go-ahead bucket off the glass while being harmed by Kadeem Batts. Quick ball movement off the inbound put the game in the hands of LaDontae Henton, but his try from the left wing to send the game to a third overtime clanged off the front of the rim. JayVaughn Pinkston totaled 20 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (23-3, 11-2 Big East), who received 17 points and nine boards from James Bell. Villanova pulled into a tie atop the conference with idle Creighton, who whipped the Cats, 101-80, in Omaha on Sunday. Bryce Cotton tallied a game-best 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Friars (17-10, 7-7). Batts picked up 21 points and 11 boards, with Josh Fortune adding 16 points in a valiant, losing cause. A 13-2 run ending just before the middle portion of the first half turned a two-point deficit into a nine-point bulge for the Friars. Tyler Harris capped it on a trey to make it 22-13. Arcidiaconos triple capped a 15-7 surge from the Wildcats to pull them within 29-28, and he connected once more from long distance in the final seconds. Cotton, though, hit two from the line to forge a 33-33 deadlock at the break. Nova provided some breathing room with a quick burst in the early stages of the second half, going up 44-39 just over six minutes in on a Daniel Ochefu slam. Villanova kept Providence at arms length from there, never letting the hosts climb closer than three until the final moments. Arcidiaconos two from the line provided a 63-58 edge for the Wildcats, but two free throws from Cotton and a three from Henton off a Bell miss evened the score with 20.6 seconds to go. Arcidiaconos last chance from beyond the arc came up short, and Hentons off- balance heave at the buzzer hit the rim. In the first extra session, Villanova erased a three-point deficit and went up by two on a Darrun Hilliard trey, but Cottons layup on the next trip down the floor evened the score. Arcidiacono missed an easy shot and the game slipped into a second OT. Game Notes: Villanova hosts St. Johns on Saturday, while Providence heads to Butler on Sunday ... Arcidiacono also totaled six rebounds and three steals, while Hilliard and Ochefu both finished with 11 points ... Fortune, who finished 4-of-5 from long range, also grabbed a game-high four steals ... The Wildcats connected on just 9-of-28 shots from beyond the arc in the triumph. Mel Ott Jersey . Barcelona says Pique tore a muscle in his right leg. The Spain international will miss Spanish league games against Almeria and Valladolid, but should be back for the Champions league match against Manchester City on March 12. Will Clark Giants Jersey . Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies.HAMILTON - It was a night of redemption for the Abbotsford Heat. Three days after falling to Hamilton, Abbotsford scored three goals in 53 seconds en route to a convincing 5-1 win over the Bulldogs Saturday in American Hockey League play. "We wish that this could have come on Wednesday, but we played a complete game tonight," said Heat forward Corey Locke. "We had everything from power-play goals to big penalty kills, and it was a whole group effort. Everyone chipped in tonight, and thats how were going to win." Locke, Chad Billins, Ben Street, Sven Baertschi and Max Reinhart each had goals for the Heat (35-23-7), who dropped 10 of their past 11 games heading into Saturday, and Aaron Dell made 36 saves for the win. Nathan Beaulieu had the lone goal for the Bulldogs (28-32-5). Dustin Tokarski stopped 19 shots before being replaced to begin the third period. Devan Dubnyk stopped all five shots he faced in relief. Tokarski made an exceptional save to keep the game scoreless 12 minutes into the first period, sliding to his right to deny the Heat in close at his far post. But a night that started so well for the Hamilton goaltender quickly turned sour. Locke, who had set up the previous chance, provided the finish as the Heat opened the scoring at 14:28. Locke moved into the low slot with Kane Lafranchise holding the puck along the boards, and tipped a slap-pass from the defenceman high and past Tokarski. Abbotsford doubled its lead just 19 seconds later, when Billins fired a wrist shot from the point that moved through a screen and surprised Tokarski. The Heat scored their third goal in quick succession at 15:21. Tokarski sprawled to deny Josh Jooris initial shot as the forward crashed the net, but Street was on hand at the post to slot the rebound into the open net. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre rued his teams missed opportunities on the power play early in the first period, that could have radically changed the outcome. "We started pretty well, and it would have been nice if our power play had clicked to start the game," he said. "We had some scoring chances as well, but when they scored their first goal on a power play, it deflated us and we had some bad shifts. "Down 3-0 after the first, its tough to get back." Dell worked hard to preserve his shutout bid in the second period. Nick Tarnasky was unguarded in the low slot, but DDell dropped into his butterfly to deny the Hamilton winger from point-blank range six minutes in. Willie Mays. Louis Leblanc was whistled for closing his hand on the puck at 9:22, and Abbotsford quickly extended its lead on the ensuing power play. The combination of Greg Olsen, Derek Smith and Baertschi sprung a three-on-two rush, and after Olsen was turned back, Smith slipped a short pass to Baertschi, who slapped a one-time shot past Tokarski from close range at 10:00 of the second. Dell was forced into action late in period, and kicked aside a tipped shot before recovering to deny another hard wrist shot with his right pad. Teammates have been impressed by the young goaltender, who played just his sixth game for the Heat on Saturday. "Hes played great," said Locke of Dell. "He gave us a chance to win both of these games in Hamilton. We couldnt do it for him on Wednesday, but here he got some run support. "He looks confident in there now, and thats what you want from a goalie." Dubnyk came in to replace Tokarski to begin the third period after Tokarski allowed four goals on 23 shots. Lefebvre argued that his decision to change goaltenders was less an indictment of Tokarskis play than an attempt to re-energize his team. "Sometimes, you try to get the troops going and you use different tactics," he said. "(Tokarski) played really well in the first two games since he came back. Tonight, he didnt make the big saves that we needed, but Im not going to make him the culprit. Thats not the case. "I was thinking that I was going to go with Dubnyk [on Tuesday], so I thought I might as well give him the period to get ready." Dells shutout bid was spoiled at 3:59 of the third. Christian Thomas initial shot from the blue-line hit a Heat defender and bounced to Beaulieu at the left faceoff dot. But with Dell out of position, the defenceman easily fired a shot into the near side of the net. It was a letdown for the Heat, who Locke believed suffered a few sluggish moments despite the win. "We would have liked to keep pushing forward," he said. "We had a few lags and a bad start to the third period. They were all over us until the first timeout, and weve got to figure those sorts of things out. "But we got the two points and we got ourselves out of our slump." Reinhart added an empty-net goal at 19:11. ' ' '
