MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 18, 1999

EDGARD – West St. John’s Marlon Jackson has had quite a time against St.James in the past four months.

Back in September, Jackson caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Carl Gauthier with 37 seconds left to give the Rams their first victory over the Wildcats since 1993.

Jackson was back at it again Tuesday night, this time on the basketball court, driving in from midcourt for a layup at the buzzer to give the Rams an 80-78 victory in the West St. John gym.Jackson’s layup capped a wild game that saw baskets at the buzzer of each quarter, the Rams rally from a 14-point first half deficit and the Wildcats bouncing back from five down in the final minute.

“I think the people got their money’s worth,” West St. John coach AntoineEdwards said. It’s St. James and West St. John, so there was going to be alot of emotion.”West St. John (2-1) took a 75-70 lead with 1:08 remaining as Brian Lumartook a length of the court inbounds pass from Jeremy Lumar, drove the left baseline and was fouled. St. James (1-2) came down court and afterrebounds by Claudell Parker and Steve Jones kept the possession alive, Jereal Dillon buried a 3-pointer from the right side to make it 75-73 with 50.1 seconds left.Amone Lumar hit the second of two free throws to make it a three-point game with 36 seconds remaining. Dillon was fouled with 21 seconds leftbut missed both foul shots. Jones grabbed the rebound and found CoreyWebster underneath who put up a layup while being fouled. Webster, whofinished with a game-high 32 points, hit the foul shot, tying the game at 76 with 14.2 seconds left.After a West St. John timeout, Brian Lumar found Norvin Smith on the leftbaseline to regain the lead for the Rams with 11 seconds on the clock.

Webster was then fouled in the backcourt, hitting both free throws to tie the game again at 78 with 9.5 seconds left. Following a timeout by St.James, Jackson took the inbounds pass on the left side, drove along the baseline and laid the shot in as the clock ticked down to zero.

“I was just thinking about getting the ball and scoring for the team,” Jackson, who led the Rams with 22 points, said.

Jackson’s shot might have been the biggest of the night but Amone Lumar had the longest. With the clock ticking down in the third quarter, Jacksongrabbed a rebound and found Lumar at midcourt. Lumar turned and put up ashot that swished through the net as the horn sounded, giving the Rams a 56-51 lead.

That lead grew to 62-55 with 5:45 left as Jackson drove in and found Lumar underneath for a layup. St. James rallied on its next twopossessions, using two free throws by Jones and a 3-pointer by Parker to close to within 62-60.

West St. John was able to keep in the lead with Jeremy Lumar gliding in tomake it 69-65 with 2:30 left. After Lumar hit two free throws with 1:36left, Webster drove the lane to make it 72-70 with 1:12 left.

St. James took a 42 -32 lead into halftime. Donriel Louis started theRams’ comeback with a 3-pointer from the right side and a free throw, pulling West St. John to within 46-42 with 4:47 left in the third quarter.But after a traveling call against St. James, Louis was issued his secondtechnical foul of the game, forcing him to leave after scoring 19 points.

Jackson, Brian Lumar and Jeremy Lumar stepped up after that, scoring 14, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in the second half. Brian Lumar finishedwith 12 points and Jeremy Lumar had 10.

After Webster hit both technical foul shots, Jackson grabbed a steal and took it in to make it 48-44. Jackson then took a pass from Amone Lumarinside and Smith tipped a shot in, tying the game with 3:28 left in the third.

Parker, who added 16 points for the Wildcats, hit the second of two foul shots to regain the lead for the Wildcats on their next possession but Brian Lumar hit a jumper from the right side, giving the Rams their first lead since the opening possession of the game at 50-49. Justin Aubertcame back for the Wildcats with a jumper but Jackson answered by driving inside, making it 52-51 with under two minutes left in the quarter.

“Donriel is a key player on the team but we have other key players,” Jackson said. “We had to step it up. Someone had to score and it was us.”Both coaches agreed that rebounds and free throw shooting made a difference in the Rams overcoming the 10-point deficit in the second half.

West St. John was 8-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter while St.James was 6-for-12.

“We had our chances,” St. James coach Lionel Ezidore said. “The differencein the second half was they made their free throws and we didn’t make ours.”Edwards said after the Rams got out-rebounded in the first half, they were able to make adjustments at halftime and turn it around in the final 16 minutes. He also agreed that foul shooting made a big difference in thegame.

“The free throw line was a plus for us in the second half,” Edwards said.

“The guys hit the boards pretty good and they stepped it up.”St. James used its rebounding advantage to control much of the first half.A drive by Leslie Aubert after Louis’ first technical foul for slapping the backboard, gave the Wildcats a 9-2 lead with five minutes left.

West St. John tied the game at 9 on a free throw by Louis at the 3:25 markbut St. James answered with a jumper by Webster and a 3-pointer fromthe top of the key by Dillon off a steal by Justin Aubert to make it 14-9.

A layup by Parker off another steal by Aubert and a put back by Webster built the lead to 20-11. Louis came back with a 3-pointer from the top ofthe key but Joseph Christy tipped in a shot at the buzzer to make it 22-14 heading.

Webster took over early in the second quarter to build the Wildcat lead to 14. Webster went in for a slam and then grabbed a steal and took it in. Apossession later, he glided in for a layup, making it 28-14 with 5:51 left in the first half. Louis cut the deficit to nine on a 3-pointer from the rightcorner but St. James came back with two free throws by Leslie Aubert anda pass from Parker to Justin Aubert inside to make it 35-21.

The Rams again chipped into the lead, pulling to within eight on a put back by Amone Lumar and two free throws by Smith. But Webster grabbed asteal on the next possession, missed a layup but put it back in at the buzzer to give the Wildcats the 42-32 lead.

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