Williams’ Three-Pointer Lifts Long Island Men’s Basketball Past St. Francis (N.Y.) in Overtime, 82-79

(boxscore)

2/11/07 --Senior James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) hit a 25-footer with 2.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Long Island men’s basketball team past St. Francis (N.Y.), 82-79, on Sunday afternoon at Peter Aquilone Court. Williams finished with a career-high 33 points, including all nine of LIU’s points in overtime and earned the Lai-Lynch Trophy as the game's MVP.

Williams opened the extra period with a three-pointer, but St. Francis quickly tied following a foul shot from Marcus Williams and a layup from Allan Sheppard made it 76-76. Another three-pointer from James Williams again with 45 seconds left was answered by Jamaal Womack at the other end to tie it at 79, before Williams’ game-clincher.

With time winding down on the game-clock, Williams set up well beyond the three-point arc and calmly drained his fifth trifecta of the game. St. Francis took a timeout to set up a final play but had to travel the length of the court and was unable to get a shot off to tie. Williams’ three-pointer capped an intense affair, in which St. Francis rallied from a 12-point deficit to force overtime.

Long Island went ahead 63-51 with 7:21 to play following a pair of foul shots from freshman Aurimas Adomatis (Kaunas, Lithuania). The Terriers answered by outscoring LIU, 16-5, over a five-minute span to draw within one point. Robert Hines started the spurt with a short jumper and Marcus Williams’ jumper with 1:40 to play capped the outburst and made 68-67.

Freshman Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, N.Y.) appeared to put the Blackbirds up for good with a deep trifecta with 34 seconds left, but Sheppard answered with a three of his own to make it 71-70. On the inbounds play, LIU turned the ball over and St. Francis had a chance for the win, but Wisseh forced a steal and converted a dunk and was fouled at the other end to put the Blackbirds up 73-70. Wisseh missed on the foul shot and with less than a second to play, Sheppard’s second three-pointer of the game sent it to overtime at 73-73.

St. Francis jumped out to a 4-2 lead, before Long Island went on an 11-2 run to build a 15-6 cushion after sophomore Donovin McLendon (Miami, Fla.) hit a jumper. The Blackbirds built the lead to as much as 27-16 in the first half, but Hines helped keep the Terriers close. At one point, Hines scored 10 straight points and his jumper with seven seconds left drew St. Francis to within 35-30 at the intermission.

McLendon was the only other LIU player in double-figures with 10 points, while junior Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) grabbed a game-high 10 boards. Wisseh finished with nine points, eight assists and six rebounds to help LIU win its second-straight Battle of Brooklyn.

Hines led St. Francis with 27 points, while Sheppard chipped in with 17 points. Womack and Williams added 15 and 12, respectively.

Long Island (8-16, 4-9) snapped a seven-game skid with the win and will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 15, with a 7:00 p.m. game at Fairleigh Dickinson.