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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- All-Star Merlakia Jones hit a jumper with six-tenths of a second remaining in overtime to give the Cleveland Rockers a 74-72 victory over the red-hot Orlando Miracle. After Orlando's Taj McWilliams made two free throws to tie it with 14.7 seconds left, Jones took a pass on the baseline and drilled a 10-foot jumper for the go-ahead basket. "McWilliams had her hand in my face and all I saw was time running out," Jones said. "I just jumped up, bent my back, put the ball back and let it go. We just have to take one game at a time. Orlando played a triangle and a sagging zone and concentrated on me." The Miracle had a last chance to tie, but Adrienne Johnson's attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim as Orlando had its team-record six-game winning streak snapped. "Merlakia Jones made one heck of a shot," Orlando coach Carolyn Peck said. "It was almost like deja vu with Eva Nemcova hitting it the last time we were here. You play great defense as best as you can and sometimes the ball falls the other team's way." Cleveland had a 71-68 lead with 42.8 seconds remaining in the extra period, but two free throws by McWillams with 27.4 seconds left cut the deficit to one. The Rockers went ahead by two less than a second later after Jones made 1-of-2 free throws. "I thought the game was a tough battle," Jones said. "I just told my teammates I want the ball in my hand. If I miss it, it'll be on me." The Rockers have won four in a row at home and are 8-2 at Gund Arena this season, including a 83-79 overtime victory over the Miracle on June 7. It is Cleveland's longest home winning streak since a club-record seven-game run in 1998. Jones scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting while adding four assists. Prior to the game, she was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the second straight year. "I received news of making the All-Star team after the shoot-around and I felt at the same time we should have had another player on the team and that's Chasity Melvin," Jones said. McWilliams finished with 22 points and Nykesha Sales added 20 as the Miracle had their lead cut in the Eastern Conference to 1 1/2 games over the Rockers. "I think we realized we were down and the Rockers want our first place spot," Sales said. "They play well at home. They are in second place and we understand that. We had to come out with a little more intensity in the second half." Cleveland shot 47 percent from the floor (27-of-58) and set a team record by hitting 11 3-pointers. Mery Andrade had four of them before finishing with 17 points. "It's the middle of the season and it gave us a chance to see where we are right now," Andrade said. "It was a good win today and it shows us that we have a chance to go to the playoffs." The game was close from the start until Cleveland jumped out to a 21-11 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half, sparked by consecutive 3-pointers from Tricia Bader and Vicki Hall. The Rockers held a 30-23 advantage at the break. "I thought we lost the game in the first half," McWilliams said. "We were down by seven and we can't do that. We had too many turnovers. Jones had to shoot over me on that final shot and I hit the ball on the way up." But Orlando battled back and took a 65-63 lead on Johnson's 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining but Melvin hit two free throws seven seconds later to tie it. The Miracle shot 45 percent from the floor (24-of-53) and went 21-of-25 from the free throw line.
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