By MARCUS HENRY marcus.henry@newsday.com
BUFFALO - Time and time again throughout the Empire State Games, the Long Island open men's basketball team showed its mettle.
It didn't come home with the gold, but it took every opponent to the limit.
The team's resilience was rewarded Sunday as Stony Brook's David Coley scored 23 points and Hofstra's Cornelius Vines 16 to lead L.I. to a bronze medal with an 85-80 double-overtime win over Adirondack.
"It was a great weekend of basketball," L.I. coach Dan Rickard said. "We were a little shorthanded, but they kept going at it hard."
L.I. needed two big plays to stay in it and received them from Vines and Stony Brook's Chris Martin.
BUFFALO - Time and time again throughout the Empire State Games, the Long Island open men's basketball team showed its mettle.
It didn't come home with the gold, but it took every opponent to the limit.
The team's resilience was rewarded Sunday as Stony Brook's David Coley scored 23 points and Hofstra's Cornelius Vines 16 to lead L.I. to a bronze medal with an 85-80 double-overtime win over Adirondack.
"It was a great weekend of basketball," L.I. coach Dan Rickard said. "We were a little shorthanded, but they kept going at it hard."
L.I. needed two big plays to stay in it and received them from Vines and Stony Brook's Chris Martin.
Martin connected on a layup with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Vines drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to force the second OT.
"We lost J.J. Walsh to an injury and had to play with eight guys the rest of the way," Rickard said. "Three of our guys fouled out today and we had just five guys available in the overtimes."
Vines was especially effective for Long Island late.
"Cornelius scored all [16] of his points in the second half and overtime," Rickard said.
Rickard lauded the play of the entire roster, including Central Connecticut State's Robby Ptacek (Bayport-Blue Point), who led the team in scoring over the first three days.
"Robby was our top scorer, but he got into a little foul trouble," Rickard said. "But everyone else picked up the slack when they had to."
"We lost J.J. Walsh to an injury and had to play with eight guys the rest of the way," Rickard said. "Three of our guys fouled out today and we had just five guys available in the overtimes."
Vines was especially effective for Long Island late.
"Cornelius scored all [16] of his points in the second half and overtime," Rickard said.
Rickard lauded the play of the entire roster, including Central Connecticut State's Robby Ptacek (Bayport-Blue Point), who led the team in scoring over the first three days.
"Robby was our top scorer, but he got into a little foul trouble," Rickard said. "But everyone else picked up the slack when they had to."
