ONEONTA, N.Y. – Only one game removed from scoring his 1,000^th career point, Jajuan Preaster played the hero on Wednesday night.  Preaster hit the game-winner as time expired, lifting the Houghton Highlanders to a 77-76 victory over the Hartwick Hawks, and keeping the Highlanders' hopes of securing the final Empire 8 playoff spot alive.
 
The Highlanders fell behind early and played catch-up throughout the first half.  Hartwick led for the majority of the half and eventually pulled ahead by eight points, 40-32, at the break.
 
The Hawks would extend their lead to as many as 10 points early in the second half before the Highlanders began to rally, peeling off a 14-4 run to even the score after a James Wang three with 15:38 remaining. 
 
Multiple times the Highlanders would pull ahead, only to have the Hawks claw back into contention.  With less than three minutes to play, and Houghton ahead by seven, Hartwick scored six straight points to pull within one.
 
With an opportunity to go ahead, Hartwick missed both ends of a pair of free throws, but Xymier Thomas picked Preaster's pocket, called timeout, and on the ensuing inbounds play, Henry Perkins drove, spun in the lane, and slipped a perfect pass to Thomas who laid it up and in to give the Hawks the lead with only 1.7 seconds to play.
 
Houghton inbounded the ball on a baseball pass over the mid-line and quickly called timeout, taking only 0.7 seconds off the clock.  Preaster came off a low-post screen by Wang as Trey Flatt lofted a perfect pass to the opposite block.  In one motion, Preaster caught the ball over this shoulder, spun, elevated and floated a one-handed shot over his defender and into the basket for the dramatic win.
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 77 | Hartwick – 76
Records: Houghton: 7-17 (5-10 Empire 8) | Hartwick: 1-22 (0-16 Empire 8)
Venue: Lambros Arena, Hartwick College | Attendance: 111

NOTABLE STATS
>> After shooting only 38 percent from the floor in the first half, including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, the Highlanders hit 56 percent of their shots in the second half.  Hartwick also improved their shooting efficiency in the second half, knocking down 13 percent more of their shots (42.4%-to-55.6%) in the second half.
 
>> Preaster would finish with a game-high 29 points, while also collecting eight rebounds and three steals.  He has scored at least 20 points in a game 10 times this season and now has 1,040 points for his career.
 
>> Flatt finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Hudson Idzi added 11 points, six rebounds and two steals. 
 
>> Perkins led the Hawks with 14 points, while Thomas collected a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"First, I want to give credit to Hartwick and Coach Ciresi.  That team has been through it and fought to the end.  To battle us the way they did after all their close losses, including a double-overtime heartbreaker at Alfred, is incredibly admirable.

"While we put ourselves in a poor spot to even need that shot, I love the mental toughness of our guys to execute two plays in 1.7 seconds to win it.  We just put that game-winning play in recently and we ran it perfectly.  

"Clutch shot from a clutch guy, but let's also not forget the pass by Trey [Flatt].  He was a tight end, not a QB, in high school, but he delivered that dime perfectly!

"Jajuan is our leader and he stayed composed throughout.  He hit big shot after big shot, and that last one will be remembered by Houghton fans for a long time." --Head Coach Jeremy Bialek

UP NEXT
The Highlanders travel to Albany on Saturday, when they will wrap up the regular season against the Russell Sage Colleges Gators at 4:00 p.m.