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UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Senior guard Mark Linebaugh’s baseline jumper with 17 seconds left lifted ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ to a dramatic 67-66 overtime win against third-seeded Lafayette Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the 2004 Patriot League Tournament at the Show Place Arena.
The Raiders advance to the semifinal round on Sunday for the first time since 2000, where they will play second-seeded American at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles had a pair of three-point victories over ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ during the regular season. American advanced with a 65-48 win over Army.
Howard Blue led ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ with his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Andrew Zidar had 16 points and eight rebounds, Linebaugh 13 points and Alvin Reed 12.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ, which has won three straight games for the first time this season, had lost the last two years to Lafayette in the quarterfinal round. Both times ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ was the higher seeded team.
Lafayette was led by Justin DeBerry with 17 points, while Rob Dill, Mike Farrell and Marcus Harley had 10 apiece.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ held a 56-53 with 38 seconds left in regulation on Reed’s jumper in the lane, but with 25 seconds left Lafayette’s Winston Davis nailed a 3-pointer from the sideline to tie the contest. Linebaugh had a chance to win the game for ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ in regulation but his short jumper at the top of the lane missed with two seconds remaining.
In overtime, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ built a five-point advantage on five points from Reed, and baskets from Blue and Zidar. Farrell then scored back-to-back baskets for the Leopards to cut the deficit to one point, 65-64, with 1:24 remaining.
After a couple of exchanges of the basketball, Linebaugh got free for a game-winning basket with 17 seconds left. Farrell then scored with 10.2 seconds remaining to move the Leopards to within one point.
On the ensuing play, Reed was fouled with 7.7 seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, giving the Leopards one last chance to put out the win. However, DeBarry missed a chance with two seconds remaining, and his shot went out of bounds, giving ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ possession with less than a second left.
GAME NOTES: Blue has gone over 600 rebounds in his career with 607 ‘ ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ is 2-0 in overtime this season ‘ The Raiders outrebounded Lafayette 50-42 ‘ senior Josh Humphrey had a career-high eight rebounds ‘