Long Island wins with buzzer-beater
Julian Batts scored 13 points and his layup at the buzzer carried No. 4-seed Long Island past fifth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, 73-72, in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference tournament Wednesday night.
The Sharks will face topseeded Robert Morris at 2 p.m. Saturday at UPMC Events Center.
Batts shot followed a threepoint play by Elyjah Williams with 22 seconds to go that gave Fairleigh Dickinson a 7271 advantage.
The play capped a less than two-minute, 10-0 run by the Knights. Raiquan Clark’s layup with 2:26 left put the Sharks ahead, 71-62.
Long Island lead, 44-29, at halftime and maintained its double-digit lead until Kaleb Bishop’s layup reduced the Knight’s deficit to 69-60 with 3:59 remaining.
Tyrn Flowers led Long Island (15-17) with 21 points and nine rebounds, Clark scored 19 and Jermaine Jackson Jr. 10.
Williams scored 21 on 8-of11 shooting with 12 rebounds for Fairleigh Dickinson (11-19),
Other games
Saint Francis 87, Bryant 61: Behind 24 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists from senior Keith Braxton and a season-high 20 points from senior Randall Gaskins Jr., Saint Francis (21-9) matched its largest margin of victory in a conference tournament game in the defeat of Bryant (15-17).
Sacred Heart 61, Mount St. Mary’s 59: E.J. Anosike scored 16 points with 15 rebounds and Koreem Ozier added 15 as Sacred Heart (20-12) beat Mount St. Mary’s (11-21) in a quarterfinal game in the NEC. Jare’l Spellman made a layup with one second remaining to secure the win.