Telfair Heats Up as Lincoln Stops St. Anthony

TRENTON, N.J. -- After a slugglish start, Sebastian Telfair heated up in the second half, scoring 20 of his 26 points in the final two periods to lead Lincoln H.S. to a 65-61 upset of nationally ranked St. Anthony H.S. on Sunday at the Prime Time Shootout.

Following a close first half, Syracuse-bound Terrence Roberts and Telfair took turns trying to take over the game. And despite an energetic effort and 12 third quarter points from Telfair, St. Anthony's looked to be on the verge of taking the game over. Roberts' short banker with 12.6 seconds left gave the Friars a 49-43 lead.

That would have been the score entering the fourth quarter, except Roberts picked up a taunting foul with half a second left in the third. Roberts was whistled for the tech after he blocked a shot and yelled in a Railsplitter player's face.

Telfair stepped to the line and hit a free throw to cut the deficit to 49-45. It may have been just a deuce, but it seemed to give Lincoln the momentum entering the pivotal fourth quarter of play.

The Railsplitters opened the fourth with a 12-3 run, capped by a Nyan Boateng three pointer at the 4:05 mark, to take a 57-52 lead. Moments later, Boateng hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 61-55 with 2:13 remaining.

St. Anthony's, which played the game without Head Coach Bob Hurley, had its chances in the final two minutes. The Friars, however, committed some key turnovers, and Telfair knocked down five of six free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Railsplitters nail down the victory.

Boateng added 13 points and Jamal Dart 12 points for Lincoln.

After a scintillating third quarter performance highlighted by 11 points and several dunks, Roberts was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and finished with 17 points. Guards Sean McCurdy (14 points) and Marcus Williams (11 points) also tallied double figures for St. Anthony.