Lamptey Unlikely Hero in Athletes Win over Heat

N. AUGUSTA, S.C. -- It was hyped up as Shelden Williams against Shavlik Randolph.

What it unexpectedly became was Julius Lamptey's coming out party.

Lamptey (pictured right), a massive 7-0, 307 pound center, scored 12 points in a balanced attack as Athletes First short circuited the Raleigh Heat on Thursday night at the Peach Jam by a 72-57 count.

Even though he did not lead Athletes First in scoring, Lamptey's contributions could not be quantified on a score sheet.

On offense, he showed excellent hands and the ability to get off his feet fairly quickly relative to his massive size. Randolph had trouble blocking Lamptey's shot, and had 300+ pounds of flesh sagging on him at both ends of the court.

Sure, Randolph got his points, 19 to be exact. He always does, but he shot just seven of 19 from the floor and was not a factor late in the second half when Athletes First slammed the door on the Heat's chances at victory.

"He's a legit seven-footer," explained Athletes First Head Coach Terry Evans. "With Julius, Kevin Bookout, Shelden Williams and Marques Hayden, we knew that we had an advantage inside on them. They had two big guys and we had four, so we wanted to extend our defense, keep the pressure on them and punch the ball inside and see if we could get him in foul trouble, and it worked."

And in the end, it was the balance that won out for Athletes First. Shelden Williams scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Kevin Bookout tallied 11 points and eight boards. Strong guard DeAngelo Alexander chipped in 12 and Marques "Mad Dog" Hayden added nine.

Matt Walsh led Raleigh with 27 points, but it was two against five for much of the night.

The first half of the heavily anticipated matchup was hotly contested, but Athletes First pulled ahead with a late first half surge to lead at the break.

The Heat appeared primed for a comeback victory, slicing the deficit to 53-49 at the halfway point of the second half.

A 14-1 run, capped by a pair of free throws from DeAngelo Alexander, pushed the Athletes First lead to 67-50 with around two minutes to play.

Lamptey started the run with a dunk. Shelden Williams hit one of two free throws, and then Matt Walsh traveled. Athletes First point guard Brady Page hit a floater in the lane to push the lead to 58-49.

Following Page's shot, Alexander was fouled after hitting the glass hard and earning several offensive rebounds. He hit one of two free throws. After another Heat turnover, Bookout dunked, Shawan Robinson missed a three pointer for Raleigh and Alexander leaked out on the break and dunked to push the lead to 63-49.

Williams then stole the ball from the Heat and dunked on the other end, until Matt Walsh stopped the bleeding temporarily by hitting one of two free throws. Kind of like putting a band-aid on a stab wound. Moments later, Walsh would foul Alexander to prevent a breakaway dunk, and Alexander hit both free throws to cap the 14-1 run.

It was truly a bizarre development in what many folks had pegged as the best game of the first day.

How else could you explain Lamptey being the shining star in a game that featured two of the nation's top 10 prospects in Williams and Randolph?