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Commodores Top Bulldogs In Clincher, 56-55

Sophomore Austin Williams leads Commodores with 21 Points

With the clock ticking down during the last 11 seconds of the game, sophomore Austin Williams finally found the right route to the basket.

Williams scored the game-winning lay-up with two seconds to spare and gave the Bayside High School Commodores boys basketball team a 56-55 win over the Campus Magnet High School Bulldogs.

"I was just nervous - I can't explain it, but it was heart-pumping," Williams said. "I got fouled, but I wasn't worried about it being called. I was just focusing on making the shot."

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Bayside was playing in the penalty for most of the fourth quarter and down six points with a minute to go, but managed come away with a win at home.

The Commodores earned their first PSAL victory of the season in the dramatic victory and improved to 3-0 overall.

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"I was happy with the effort during the last four minutes of the fourth quarter," said Bayside's head coach Cory Sumper. "Austin is definitely one of the top five sophomores in the city. He's our leader and he's my captain. As a sophomore, that's big. He's serious about the game."

The final two seconds were played with some confusion. As Campus Magnet was went to inbound the ball after Williams' bucket, it was unclear if fans ran on the court before the clock expired.

"The people ran on the court - and when they run on the court it's supposed to be a technical foul," Campus Magnet coach Charles Granby said. "It happened to us a couple of years ago and they called a technical foul when one of our people ran on the court. A technical foul should have been called and I filed a protest already."

Referees Edward Mills and Mark Lewis decided to reset the clock and play the last closing seconds again, but the result remained the same.

Bayside came out strong and commanded their home court through most of the first half. The Commodores opened the game with an 8-0 run and forced the Bulldogs to take an early timeout. Williams and senior point guard William Dobie pressured Campus Magnet point guard Duquan Lawson to make costly turnovers in the first quarter that allowed Bayside to build a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Williams played with the confidence of an upperclassman and finished with 11 points in the first half and 6'6 junior Uzonna Akazi had a strong first half despite collecting three fouls. Although, Lawson and junior Samuel Durodola began closing the gap on the offensive end, the first half ended with Bayside still holding a 27-20 lead.

A monster dunk by Durdola inspired his teammates to climb back into the game early in the third quarter. Akazi went to the bench with four fouls and Bayside struggled with the Bulldogs' full-court press. At the end of three quarters, the Commodores' lead had shrunk to two points (44-42).

"We're not great in the third quarter. We have a problem with coming out of the locker room with a lead and figuring that the game is over." Sumper said. "Our intensity has to stay up in the third quarter and that's what hurts us."

With the score at 55-49 late in the fourth, Bayside was forced to play the quarter in a hurry. Down six with a minute to go, Dobie iced two free throws to begin the Commodores' comeback. Bayside's Wayne Mitchell chipped in a bucket to set the stage for Williams' late-game heroics.

"We played well, but Bayside was better than us," said Campus Magnet coach Charles Granby. "Bayside did nothing that was too surprising, but we played sloppy – threw the ball away and missed free throws."

Williams' 21 points led all scorers and Akazi's 14 points made him the second highest scorer for the Commodores. Samuel Durodola led Campus Magnet with 19 points and five rebounds, while Lawson finished with 18 points and eight assists. The Commodores will play Martin Van Buren High School on Tuesday, December 7 at Van Buren at 5:15 p.m.

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