Prentice Small gained a double profit.

Not only did the former St. John the Baptist basketball standout play close to home on Dec. 1 (enjoying a reunion with about a dozen family and friends), but he also contributed to the Lehigh University men's basketball team's thrilling 79-76 overtime victory at Stony Brook.

Small, a 5-foot-9 senior point guard, finished with a game-high five assists and he made the clutch pass which led to Lehigh's go-ahead basket with 35 seconds remaining in the five minute overtime.

Lehigh, getting its first road victory this season, rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit. Small played 19 minutes, including several in the extra session. He sustained pesky defense and his fast feet helped propel several Lehigh fast breaks.

"This was my second time to play on Long Island (as a collegian)," Small said. "It's exhilarating. It's fun to come see people you have grown up with who are able to come out and support you."

Small's parents, Scheralda and Julius, came to cheer for him along with his sister, Alexis, and brother, Jonas. He also had his grandfather, aunt, uncle and cousins sitting behind the Lehigh bench.  In addition, two former SJB teammates, Gerald Eugene and Gilbert Bayonne, were inside Stony Brook's Pritchard Gym.

Lehigh senior co-captain, Michael Ojo, has known Small for four years and said Small was eager to play a homecoming game.

"He, definitely, wanted to come out and really show his friends and family what he has been working on for four years," Ojo said. "He definitely wanted to go out with a bang, a victory. We played Stony Brook last year and they blew us out at our place."

When he sparkled for SJB, Small was one of the top prep scorers in Suffolk County. He averaged 26 points per game during his 2007 senior season and sparked SJB to the regular season Class A Long Island championship.

A two-time All-Long Island selection, Small was named the 2007 MVP by the Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association.  He began his college career with high hopes, but has started only one of his 94 Lehigh games the last four seasons. He scored three points against Stony Brook, giving him 328 college career points and 201 assists. He did produce 89 assists and 28 steals as a sophomore.

"In my eyes [college career] is a little bit of a disappointment," Small said. "Not as much as I expected.

"Coming from high school, when you are a big-time player, a big-time scorer, you are basically looking to come in and do what you did. My coach [Brett Reed] really turned me into a pass-first point guard. And I appreciate that. It has helped my game for the future."

Small describes himself as a steady defender who can apply pressure. He's a quick dribbler and he can frequently feed his teammates for open shots.

But at 5-foot-9, he was at least three inches shorter than all the Stony Brook players, which was a defensive disadvantage. As Lehigh won four of its first seven games, Small averaged a solid 16 minutes of playing time.

"My stats may be a little deceiving, but I know what I can do," said Small, who has contributed to 55 of Lehigh's wins the last four seasons. "This isn't the end for me. I know what I can do talent-wise.  I know what I can do on the court."

Small hopes to become a broadcast journalist after college but yearns to play for pay in a foreign country.

"Through the (college) disappointments, through the struggle, I have done a good job of maintaining confidence in myself and believing that -- no matter what -- in the end my dream will come true," Small said. "And if I continue to follow my dream, it will come true."