MANCHESTER, N.H. American International junior Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) erupted for 28 first half points to help men's basketball keep pace with Southern New Hampshire en route to another thrilling finish with the Penmen, this time in Northeast-10 semifinal action, 82-79.
The Yellow Jackets advance to the NE-10 Championship game for the first time since the 1999-00 campaign after the second heavyweight fight between AIC and SNHU of the season. The Penmen got the best of AIC in January, winning in double overtime, 107-104.
American International trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, but Dobbs got it going in a big way, knocking down 8-of-9 from beyond the arc and finished the half 10-13 from the floor for 28 of the team's 45 points.
If there were not enough fireworks, senior Bobby Harris (Berlin, N.J.) spotted up just inside the half court line and rifled off a go-ahead, buzzer beating shot to give AIC back the lead, 45-43, and momentum into the intermission.
With the frenzy of the first half behind them, AIC took to the court in the second looking to stay up and keep the crowd out of it. The two teams traded buckets, but a few long range Penmen buckets brought them back to a tie at 51 apiece at the 16:31 mark.
The two squads tied six times before Harris got away on a fast break and got the hoop and the harm to pull AIC ahead by three, 64-61, the largest led by either team in 8:10 of play.
Dobbs gave AIC its largest lead since the first possession of the half, 67-63, hitting the backend of a free throw chance. Next he knocked down his ninth from beyond the arc to put AIC up by as many and with that tied an NE-10 Championship game record for 3-pointers in a game.
Penmen Devin Gilligan knotted it up for the eighth time of the half at 2:16, knocking down all three from the charity stripe.
On the ensuing possession, Dobbs cut to the hoop for the lay-in and the Yellow Jackets did not trail from there. Gilligan's game-tying attempt as time expired was off the mark and AIC advances after another fight with the Penmen.
Dobbs finished with a career-high 38 points off 13-20 shooting and 9-11 from behind the arc. Harris and senior Marcus Porter (New Castle, Del.) also finished in double figures with 17 and 11 respectively. Porter also grabbed a team-high 12 boards.
AIC made up for a poor free throw shooting performance in the first meeting (19-33), shooting 14-19 to keep pace with SNHU, 16-20.
The Yellow Jackets face off against St. Anselm Saturday, Mar. 7 in the NE-10 Championship game. Game-time is slated for 1 p.m. For all updates visit www.aicyellowjackets.com
