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He slept until 1 on Saturday afternoon and then came to play in the SNY Invitational championship game.

The 6-foot-9 Jack capped a comeback from 19 points down in the third quarter by draining two clutch foul shots in the final seconds of overtime and then blocking a shot on the defensive end to lead Rice to a thrilling 63-58 victory over Cardozo at Long Island University-Brooklyn.

Rice (14-3) outscored Cardozo 27-11 over the fourth quarter and overtime, including a 9-4 spurt in the four-minute extra period.

"It's great," said Jack after he was presented with the MetroPCS MVP award for putting up 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

"I went home [Friday night]. I slept all day and I came back in here today and I tried to play my best."

Cardozo junior forward Dwayne Brunson received the McDonald's Sportsmanship Award after putting up 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks in the loss. Brunson also dropped 22 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's rout of Long Island Lutheran.

"Of course we lost," Brunson said. "We're going to bounce back and get ready for next week."

After Jack returned late Friday afternoon from an official visit to Arizona, he vowed to never again take a trip before an important game. He had 12 points and 12 rebounds in Friday night's win over Boys & Girls but admitted to being "exhausted" afterward.

With assistant coaches from Seton Hall and St. John's looking on Saturday, Jack went to the foul line with his team clinging to a 59-58 lead and 21.4 seconds left in the overtime.

Asked what he was thinking when he went to the stripe, he said: "I just got to make these because I missed two earlier."

After draining both to extend Rice's lead to 61-58, 6-8 Cardozo senior Ryan Rhoomes went up for a layup, but Jack leaped and rejected the shot.

"That's just something I always do. I like playing defense, so I always pick up that defensive assignment," Jack said.

Scotty Arias hit two more foul shots for two of his 12 points with 5.1 seconds left to cap the victory for Rice.

Cardozo (12-7) led 45-26 late in the third period, but the Raiders outscored the Judges 28-19 the rest of the regulation. Rice outscored Cardozo 18-7 in the fourth quarter, when Jack had nine points and Arias had seven. Arias, a senior guard, was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation and then made 2 of 3 to tie the game at 54.

Cardozo guard Chris Gayot unfurled a three-quarter court heave that glanced off the rim in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game to the extra period.

In the extra time, Rice junior Jermaine Sanders hit a huge 3-pointer and then a turnaround jumper to put Rice up 59-54.

"I felt that I had to step up in overtime because I was playing bad the whole game. And the fadeaway jump shot, it felt good coming off," said Sanders, who finished with 12 points.

"Jermaine is a big-game player. He's the guy that if we have a last-second shot, that's who we want shooting it. He's been doing it since his sophomore year. He hit some big shots for us last year down the stretch of the [New York Federation AA] state championship. And this is something that he'll continue to do. He's that type of player," Rice coach Maurice Hicks said.

Malcolm Brooks finished with 15 points for Cardozo and Rhoomes added 14 points and 11 boards.

A top 10 team nationally and the No. 1 team in the city, Rice came in as the heavy favorite to win the event, but had to fight off serious threats from both Boys and Cardozo before becoming the third team to capture the SNY Invitational.

Lance Stephenson and Lincoln won the inaugural event in 2008, and Sherrod Wright and Mount Vernon took home the hardware a year ago.

Now Jack is the latest to add his name to the MVP list.

One Division 1 assistant coach said he wouldn't be surprised to see the long and lanky Jack playing in the NBA one day.

For now, though, he's focused on defending Rice's state title and then picking a college out of his many suitors.

"If I make a decision it's going to be later on in this year," he said. "I'm trying to play this season out, win this ring and then make my decision." END