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NEW YORK CITY — The Baylor Bears, lead by Pierre Jackson and his late-game antics on offense, defeated the BYU Cougars 76-70 in the semifinals of the National Invitational Tournament Tuesday evening.
Jackson took over the game during the second half, having a hand in nine straight points during a 10-2 Baylor run that began with 7:25 remaining. Jackson assisted Cory Jefferson on a jumper, then scored seven straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from the corner over Brandon Davies.
BYU and Baylor traded baskets to close out the half, and with 1:42 remaining, Isaiah Austin gave the Bears a 10-point lead.
With the game seemingly out of hand, Carlino caught fire, reminiscent of an arcade game of NBA Jam.
With a little help from Davies, Carlino dribbled off a high-post screen, and let fly from behind the NBA 3-point line. Swish, and the lead was down to seven.
On the other hand, BYU was able to pressure Pierre Jackson on the wing, and the Baylor point guard dribbled the ball out of bounds, turning the ball back over to the Cougars and drawing a timeout from Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
Coming out of the timeout, Carlino set his feet and released another long shot — swish, and the lead was down to six points. 1:04 remained in the second half, and the Baylor lead was two possessions away.
Carlino then was forced into fouling Jackson, who made both free throws with 53 seconds. But, the sophomore guard wasn't finished with his assault from the perimeter.
Carlino received the in-bounds pass, dribbled up the court, and launched another 3-point attempt, which clanged through the rim and lifted the BYU bench onto their feet.
One minute after the Bears had increased the lead to 10 points, Carlino had single-handedly closed the gap to three points.
After another foul on Jackson, who missed one of his two free throws, Carlino's run of luck came to an end. His next missed shot was rebounded by Baylor, who was able to pass the ball across halfcourt for an easy layup and a six-point lead that would hold until the end of the game.
Carlino finished the game with a team-high 20 attempts from the floor, converting on seven of them.
With the loss, the career of Brock Zylstra, Brandon Davies, and Craig Cusick came to an end in the Big Apple. The team will return home, being able to take pride in an extended postseason run that culminated in Madison Square Garden against a good Baylor team.
Dan Lewis covers BYU sports for KSL.com. He is currently attending Brigham Young University, studying communications with an emphasis in multimedia journalism.
