By Dylan Butler
“We came out of oblivion to play for first place and we put forth a first-place performance,” said Jamaica head coach Dewitt Thompson. “I think they stole one from us today and they know it.”
It was Warren, the Owls' senior leader, who stepped up in the waning moments of the fourth quarter and made the big plays. With four seconds left, Bryant forward Diego Aguiar missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Warren pounced on the rebound and was fouled. He scored his 21st point of the game from the free throw line to seal the win for Bryant (15-2, 6-1).
“It was a close one, but we hung in there,” Warren said. “It was closer than it should've been. We weren't hustling back on defense and the turnovers made the game so close. Today, we were tired.”
It appeared the Owls would win this one comfortably, opening up a 19-10 first quarter lead on Carl Rhodes' bucket from the left blocks. Bryant pressed and forced turnovers and widened the gap even more, leading 29-16 with 4:44 left in the first half. The Owls switched from playing their fast-paced style to a slowed down half-court game to deal with Jamaica's go-to player, junior Nathaniel Parker.
“We didn't want to get into a running game with them and let Parker get all the points inside,” said Bryant head coach John Demas. “That was our game plan and it worked.”
But Jamaica (8-4, 5-2) chipped away at Bryant's lead and trailed by just six, 38-32, at halftime, thanks to Darryl Eilam's foul line jumper.
After the Beavers cut the lead to two, 40-38, Bryant went back up by 11, 49-38, on Dwayne Walker's layup with 2:46 left in the third quarter. But Jamaica came right back and stayed within striking distance, trailing by five, 52-47, at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Jamaica made its move. An 8-0 run, capped by Steve St. Pierre's 8-foot jumper on a 3-on-2 break, put the Beavers ahead, 57-55, with 4:32 left in the game.
Jamaica's first lead of the game was short-lived, though, as Warren slashed to the hole while getting fouled. He missed the free throw, but Rhodes grabbed the ball away from Parker and scored the putback. Warren's foul line jumper put Bryant ahead, 61-57, with 3:30 left to play.
“They made a run and we made some mistakes,” Demas said. “Then we composed ourselves. We wanted the ball in [Warren's] hands. It was a team victory – it wasn't just one man – but he is our leader.”
Trailing 63-59 with 1:59 left, Jamaica made one last run. Eilam nailed a three-pointer from the left wing with 21 seconds left to cut the Beavers deficit to one and then stole the inbounds pass, setting off a wild sequence.
Warren took the ball away from Eilam at midcourt, but Eilam stole it right back and, with his back to the scoreboard, fired off a desperation three-point heave with nine seconds left in the game. Aguiar grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled.
“It was very intense. We had no timeouts left and we had to scramble,” Thompson said. “But I'm so happy with the way we kept our composure. If [Eilam] knew he had more time, he would've driven to the basket.”
Parker led the way for Jamaica with 23 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Eilam chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Walker had 16 points for Bryant.
Cardozo 92, Columbus 68. Darryl Hill lived up to his nickname “Showtime” last week. The Judges' senior point guard had his third straight game scoring more than 40 points to lead Cardozo (8-2) to a win at the Gauchos Roundball Classic in the Bronx Saturday.
After scoring 50 in a win over Francis Lewis Wednesday and dropping 42 against August Martin Friday, Hill scored 41 points and had eight rebounds, eight assists and six steals against Columbus (5-5).
Campus Magnet 77, Franklin K. Lane 50. The trio of Devon Ray (23 points), Elvis Belone (21 points) and Mark Arrington (20 points) led the way again for the Bulldogs (10-1, 7-1 Queens A-II).
Van Buren 60, Beach Channel 56 (OT). Josh Puello had 22 points and six assists and John Darby added 14 points to lead the VeeBees (13-3, 6-2 Queens A-II) to the win.
Newtown 61, Edison 37. Jamel Moye had 19 points and eight rebounds and Tamer Gabriel chipped in with 15 points, five steals and four assists for Newtown (6-3, 5-2 Queens A-I). Reyaad Mohamed led Edison with 13 points.
Francis Lewis 59, Far Rockaway 49. St. Francis College-bound Damien Herard had 22 points, Jermaine Johnson added 16 points and Steve Louis dished out nine assists for the Patriots (7-5, 4-4 Queens A-II).
Cardozo 92, August Martin 71. Wayne Lloyd had 12 points and 12 rebounds to add to Hill's 42 points for the Judges. Ike Iwu scored 23 points for Martin (2-6 Queens A-II).
RFK 69, Renaissance 66 (OT). Andrew Miller led RFK (3-10, 2-6 Queens B-I) with 31 points, 11 boards and eight assists and Steven Caruso added 15 points, six rebounds and five steals.
Roland Hanak scored a team-high 25 points for Renaissance (0-6 Queens B-I) in the loss and Gerald Shaw added 20 points, but missed a game-tying three pointer at the buzzer.
Aviation 67, Newcomers 33. Luis Estrada had 10 assists and four steals and Nelson Scueto added eight points for the Flyers (10-2, 4-0 Queens B-I).
