Just one day after being named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year, LIU Brooklyn senior Jamal Olasewere sat helplessly on the bench, hoping his college career was not coming to a close.
Olasewere, who has battled foul trouble for four years, had seen Quinnipiac try to bait him all evening into an early exit from the NEC quarterfinal, with the Bobcats finally succeeding with 3:31 remaining and the game tied.
Classmate C.J. Garner took it from there.
“C.J. came to me when I fouled out and he said, ‘I got you,” Olasewere said. “He took over. Not really many words you can use to explain what he did. He was tremendous. He was electrifying.”
The senior guard saw to it the team’s quest for the NEC’s first-ever three-peat would continue, leading the third-seeded Blackbirds with 30 points and rallying them back from a nine-point second-half deficit, to earn a 91-83 win Wednesday night at the WRAC in Brooklyn. LIU will face No. 2 Wagner in the NEC semifinals on Saturday in Staten Island.
With Olasewere (20 points, six rebounds and four assists) limited to 25 minutes, and the halfcourt offense stalling without him, Garner found another gear of aggressiveness, driving into the paint with disregard for his body and acute attention to what his team required, scoring 18 second-half points, while shooting 10-of-20 from the field.
“Especially with Jamal out, and not having [injured-forward] Julian [Boyd], I have to step up,” Garner said. “I have to be someone the rest of the team can depend on. I like these moments like this because it really lets me show my game.”
After a fast-paced back-and-forth first-half, which saw nine ties and 10 lead changes, Quinnipiac (15-16, 11-8) entered the second half with a 47-43 lead, led by Ousmane Drame, who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.
The sixth-seeded Bobcats, the country’s top-rebounding team, grabbed 23 offensive boards and took a 75-68 lead with less than seven minutes remaining. But the Blackbirds (18-13, 13-6) had battled back from much worse.
During its reign, LIU has been pushed to the edge of a cliff so often it hardly registers anymore. They shot 50 percent from the field, while Quinnipiac crumbled, making 10-of-19 second-half free throws.
Leading by two with less than two minutes remaining, Garner hit a fadeaway jumper and was then followed by Kenny Onyechi’s exclamation point dunk on a pretty pass from point guard Jason Brickman — just two plays that defined the past three years.
To call the Blackbirds clutch seems like an insult. To call them composed seems like an understatement.
“The resiliency of this group has been the calling card,” LIU coach Jack Perri said. “Obviously, things were looking a little bleak down nine, but our guys stepped up. I always talk about keeping our poise. We’ve been through this before and they did it again. We can handle anything.”
howard.kussoy@nypost.com