Chris Hooper was falling down along the baseline as he let the ball go with the buzzer sounding — but the last-gasp attempt by the St. Francis Brooklyn junior forward found nothing but net.
The buzzer-beating bucket gave the Terriers men’s basketball team a thrilling 60–59 victory over host St. Francis University (Pa.) in Northeast Conference play last Sunday afternoon.
The final play started with St. Francis Brooklyn down 59–58 with seven seconds remaining. Brent Jones dribbled the length of the floor and put up a floater along the right ride. Hooper tipped the weak side rebound to himself amid Red Flash defenders before getting a shot up in the nick of time. The basket was initially waved off as late, but a video review overturned that call, giving the Terriers the bucket, and the win.
Hooper downplayed his game winning heroics, saying he was just backing up Jones.
“I was just doing my job,” said Hooper, who had 11 points and six rebounds. “I knew that the play was for Brent to drive to the basket, and I needed to be in position to follow-up the shot. I had a good feeling that I got it off in time, and luckily I timed it right.”
The victory keeps St. Francis Brooklyn (11–8, 5–1) in first place in the Northeast Conference. The Terriers squad won eight of its last nine games. Jones led the way against St. Francis University with 20 points, including 13 in the second half. Tyreek Jewell chipped in 11 points.
Jones scored six-straight points to give the Terriers 47–38 lead with 8:57 to go in the game. His three-pointers shortly afterwards made it 50–39. But St. Francis Brooklyn could not put the game away. The Red Flash embarked on a 13–2 run to pull within 53–52 with 3:47 remaining. Then Ollie Jackson made two free throws with seven ticks on the clock to put St. Francis University up by one. But Hooper made sure the advantage didn’t last.
Blackbirds squandered big first half: The Long Island University men’s basketball team saw a 21-point first-half lead get away in an eventual 61–54 loss to Mount St. Mary’s at Barclays Center last Sunday afternoon.
Gerrell Martin paced the Blackbirds (6–11, 2–4) with a game-high 20 points. Martin Hermannsson added 10 points and Joel Hernandez had eight. Chris Martin paced Mount St. Mary’s (8–9, 2–4) with 15 points.
Long Island University led 25–4 with 6:13 to go in the first half thanks to a 21–2 run that included nine points from Martin. The Blackbirds could not sustain the momentum after the break, and saw Mount St. Mary’s outscore them 42–25 in the second half. Junior Robinson tied the score with a three-pointer at the 6:58 mark of the second half. Mount scored the next 10 points to take control of the contest and never let it go.
