Mar. 2, 2011

Box Score

On Wednesday night at the APEX in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Championships, Coach Eric Harrison and his team experienced the full spectrum of emotions during its 85-78 overtime victory over visiting Farmingdale State.

The Lightning came storming out of the gates to build a 30-12 lead; eventually watched that lead erased by the Rams; stared defeat in the eyes during the final seconds of the second half; and when given a second chance, pulled out a thrilling win in front of the home fans to propel the team into the semifinals against Brooklyn College, a 64-54 winner over No. 2 seed Polytechnic Institute of New York.

Leading 70-69 with 2:07 remaining in regulation after Chris Mary Martinez banked home a three-pointer and Farmindale's Natasha Smalls answered with a jumper of her own, the Lightning looked to have committed a fatal mistake when Louvinia Hayes and Amanda De La Cruz got mixed up on an inbounds pass under their own basket. Jalicia O'Connell stepped in to snatch the ball away and induced a foul from De La Cruz that sent her to the line.

With a boisterous Lehman crowd doing its best to distract O'Connell, the 5-9 sophomore missed her first attempt from the free throw line, but recovered to knock down the second and knot the game at 70. Having dodged a bullet, the Lightning had a final chance to take the lead, but could not convert as time expired sending the game into overtime.

Farmingdale State got on the board first in the extra session as Shemique Hooks knocked down a jumper. Both teams then proceeded to trade baskets until with 57 seconds remaining, Paula Robinson buried the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer from in front of the Lehman faithful that boosted the Lightning ahead 81-78. Hayes then salted away the victory with a steal and driving layup that increased the Lehman lead to 83-78. Hayes would add two free throws for the final margin.

Playing from behind the entire first half and into the second, Farmingdale took its first lead of the game at 45-43 when its 5-foot-4 sparkplug, Nikita Green, drained a wide open three-pointer from the top of the key, and even built an eight point lead, 66-58, with 5:43 remaining. But a three-pointer by Robinson cut the Lightning deficit to 66-61 before back-to-back three-pointers by Hayes regained the lead for Lehman, 67-66.

Hayes finished the night with a game-high 30 points on 9-for-19 shooting (5-of-11 3pt. FGs) and also corralled 10 rebounds. Her backcourt mate, De La Cruz, contributed 19 points while Jaleesa Gordon added 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Robinson, whose clutch three-pointer spurred the Lightning to the win, posted 13 points. The Lightning finished the night shooting 48 percent from the field.

Lehman's win sets up a rematch of the City University of New York Athletic Conference Championship semifinals, a 54-39 win by the Lightning over the Bulldogs, on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the APEX.