Falcons Trip Up Miami's La Salle

Melbourne - Gilberto Clavell played with plenty of heart, as did many players from both teams, as Florida Air survived a rare home-court scare in defeating Miami's La Salle 103-98 in overtime.

Clavell would have enjoyed his best basketball game for Florida Air even from the stands.

"I would be crazy in the stands," Clavell said when asked if he would have liked Thursday's Falcons' game if he was sitting. "Guys in the stands, they think it's fun. But down there, on the court, you needed to have heart to play in this game."

A loud, near-capacity crowd of about 400 at the Falcons' tiny, on-campus gym witnessed the battle between ranked Class 3A teams. clavell's career-high of 32 points and game-best 21 rebounds pushed Florida Air (16-1) to its first win since being ranked No. 1 this week in the classification by the state sportswriters poll.

No. 10 La Salle (13-6), which started hot with leads of 11-0 and 15-2, showed the ability to keep and sometimes surpass the Falcons' usual rapid pace.

"We've seen them for years at the state championships," La Salle coach Eric McNelley said. "We know their style. They've been there and played in this type of atmosphere."

A 6-foot-6, long-armed senior forward from Puerto Rico, clavell was the contest's dominant inside force. That was despite playing with painful knees, which Clavell plans to rest following the season.

"They are getting better," the mid-level Division I prospect said.

Senior guard Rihards Kuksiks tied Clavell for team best-scoring honors. His 32 points included six 3-pointers, two of which were hit on consecutive possessions in ovetime to give Florida Air the lead for good at 100-96 with 1:41 left.

Kuksiks' 3-pointers came after a head-shaking eight-point run by La Salle junior guard Ruben Cotto, who missed six recent games with an injury. Cotto, who finished with a game-high 37 points, hit a pair of 3-pointers early in overtime that traveled close to a combined 50 feet. The deepest one, a left-side mortar that had him back-pedaling even before the shot went in, gave the Royal Lions their final lead at 96-94.

Aiding Cotto, who has played against Clavell in Puerto Rico junior leagues, was senior Benito Santiago Jr., the son of the former Major League catcher. He added 32 points and left-handed teammate Steven Miro scored 23.

Surviving too much firepower against a team that tests itself often against larger Miami-area opponents left Florida Air coach Aubin Goporo content.

"We needed a game like this to see where we stood," he said. "There's a chance we might see them again. We don't just want to be the county champ. We want to play these teams and get better."

La Salle might have lost its early double-figure edge, but it rallied from a 79-68 deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime in the enthralling late-afternoon game that was worthy of prime time.

Yet the play of the game was produced by Florida Air junior guard Jonathan Frazier, who scored 15 points off the bench.

With the Falcons up 100-98, Frazier dribbled behind-the-back to avoid a trap along the left sideline at midcourt. He continued to the basket and, despite a strong challenge, sank a layup with 12 seconds left to clinch the win.

The victory kept alive a Falcons' home-court winning streak that dates back to a loss to Hialeah's Champagnat Catholic early in the 1998-99 season.

Scanned images of the game published in Florida Today.