Lakers Down Raiders in a Wild Overtime Game at Putt Moore Court

CANANDAIGUA – Tuesday night's meeting between the host Finger Lakes CC Lakers and the Fulton-Montgomery CC Raiders was one for the ages.

The Lakers (5-5), who seemingly looked like they had the game wrapped up in regulation, were surprisingly forced into playing an extra five minutes of basketball as the Raiders, who were trailing 59-56 late in the second half, showed no signs of quit.

Let's rewind the tape.

Inside the final minute of regulation is when the madness would begin. It all started with a lead change in favor of the Lakers. Trailing 56-55 with 39 seconds remaining on the clock, Lakers forward Richard De La Cruz found his way to the basket for a pair of points – putting the score at 57-56 – in favor of the home team.

De La Cruz's bucket wouldn't be the final points of the contest. After it, neither team would claim any points for the next 28.5 seconds until De La Cruz would make good on a pair of free throws with 10.5 seconds remaining in the game. His two made shots from the charity stripe pushed the Lakers lead to 59-56.

Now is when the drama would start to unfold.

With the ball on Fulton's courtside, the Raiders would create a ton of chatter in the stands and throughout the gymnasium just a short while after De La Cruz's free throws.

With precious seconds ticking away from the game clock, the Raiders would move the ball into the hands of their leading scorer with just 1.9 seconds to go. At that juncture is when guard Ibrahima Diallo would send the game into adage time.

Diallo, with little time for any more decisions to be made with the rock – in terms of passing it, lunched up a three-pointer with a prayer attached to it. As his shot traveled through the air in Finger Lakes gymnasium, it immediately went in search of a pathway for the Lakers basket.  

Well – it found just the right path. Diallo's shot, which would finally come down out of the stratosphere, would find the netting for three points. His trey would knot the game at 59 – sending it into overtime.

The extra time posted on the clock would bring nothing but more excitement to the people viewing Tuesday's thriller.

Tied at 65 in OT with just seconds remaining on the clock and with the ball in the possession of the Lakers, it was now Finger Lakes turn to further grow the drama.

With the ball in the palms of Lakers guard Sean Sweeney, an exciting finish sat just moments away.

Sweeney, with exhaustion kicking in and with a few Laker players cramping up due to dehydration, decided to take the game into his own matters.

Acting as the facilitator, the freshman would maneuver his way around several Raider defenders and without further ado as he weaved through traffic on his way towards the glass, Sweeney would find the open man – Kaleem Edwards – underneath the basket – for the game-winning two-point bucket with 4.6 seconds to go.

Edwards' points would lock up a 67-65 victory for Finger Lakes. His game-winner was his second in the last two weeks. Back on 11/20 at home against Jamestown CC-Cattaraugus, the 6'4" guard landed another game-winning two pointer, which resulted in a 64-63 Lakers victory.

Edwards, with his clutch basket, finished the game with 12 points off 5-8 shooting.

Leading the scoring column for the Lakers in the win was De La Cruz. In 36 minutes worth of action, he scored a game-high 19 points. In addition, he grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds and was 9-10 from the free-throw line.

Freshman forward Josh Brown added 11 points for the Lakers off of the bench.

In terms of scoring for the Raiders, Diallo led the team with 18 points. Darius Ward pitched in with 13 points in the losing effort.

Last night's matchup between Finger Lakes and Fulton not only presented late game heroics, it also presented a physical style of basketball as both teams combine to record a total of 42 fouls (with the Lakers committing 19).

Both squads reached the free throw line frequently in the 45-minute affair. Finger Lakes, which attempted 32 free throws, made good on 20 of them. Fulton, on the night, shot 10-20 from the charity stripe.

On the whole, the Lakers outshot the Raiders – 38% to 30%. Rebounding heavily favored the visitors despite the outcome. Fulton, which registered 21 offensive rebounds, tallied 47 boards in the game. Finger Lakes came up with 33 rebounds as a team.

Fulton and the Lakers were close in the turnover category. The hosts finished the game with 14 of them while the Raiders coughed up the ball 13 times.

Statistics aside, both teams delivered an instant classic a night ago.

The Lakers, who are now on a three-game win streak, will return to action this Saturday (12/8) for a 1:00 p.m. home contest with Medaille College JV.