The Philadelphia Wings escaped tremendous embarassment Thursday night on Long Island, defeating the New York Saints, 18-17, in overtime after blowing an eight-goal lead midway through the third quarter.

The victory moves Philadelphia into a tie with Colorado for the Eastern Division lead, at 5-5. The Wings can take first place outright by defeating the Saints, a league-worst 1-10, again Saturday afternoon at the First Union Center.

For a few minutes, it looked there would be no division lead for the Wings. Gavin Prout scored just 52 seconds into the game, followed ten seconds later Jeff Wills. Doug Shanahan added a goal in the third minute, and the host Saints were up, 3-0.

Maybe Philadelphia was still shaking off the snow from its trip into Uniondale, the same snow that kept the announced attendance below 2500 and the actual attendance maybe half that.

But like the crowd, which some observers tabbed at about two hundred for the opening faceoff, the Wings' successes grew steadily. Supersized forward Brian Tower (listed as 6'4", 250 pounds on the roster), playing in his first NLL game, scored at the four-minute mark, and the relatively puny Andrew Martin (6'2", 185) struck a minute later.

Keith Cromwell buried a shot 33 seconds later, Tom Marechek scored shorthanded a little later, and Philadelphia was rolling. Prout scored the next goal, tying the game at four, but the Wings recorded three of the quarter's final four goals, for a 7-5 lead.

Philadelphia added to the bloodshed in the second quarter, holding the Saints scoreless until just four minutes remained in the half. During that time, Tony Henderson scored his second and third goals on the night, Cromwell struck shorthanded, and Marechek potted one of his own.

Chris Panos scored the last goal before halftime, cutting the Wings' lead to 11-6.

Philadelphia opened the second half with more of the same explosive play, as Cromwell, Marechek, and Tower all scored in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, for a commanding 14-6 lead. Victory was signed, sealed, and delivered.

Or so Philadelphia thought, apparently. As has been their undoing many times the last two seasons, the Wings settled into a passive style of play, allowing New York to start chipping away at the lead.

The Saint Bernards' goals came fast and furious. Shearer. Brian Bendig. Shearer again. Bendig again, and again. Chad Culp. In less than six minutes, an eight-goal lead was down to just two.

Henderson stalled the run by scoring with four seconds to go in the quarter, but even though they trailed 15-12 going to the fourth, momentum was clearly with the Saints.

Barely three minutes into the final period, the Saints had rallied to within one, on goals from Bendig and Prout. Facing the unthinkable shame of blowing a huge lead to the NLL's worst team, Jeff Ratcliffe opened some breathing room at 5:42, and Tower cleared a little more space a mere half-minute later.

Undeterred, the Saints kept on coming, with Panos scoring a pair and turning the last four minutes of regulation into a 17-16 thriller.

With ten seconds to play, and still nursing that one-goal lead, Philadelphia's Jeff Spano -- for reasons probably known only by number 47 himself -- decided to try for a game-clinching empty net shot.

Bad idea. Spano missed high, and quick as lightning, a New York player threw a deep bomb to Shanahan, who fired it past Wings netminder Dallas Eliuk with three seconds to play.

17-17, and on to sudden death lacrosse.

After two minutes and 53 seconds of breathtaking drama, Cromwell delivered by his lonesome, scooping up a loose ball in front of the crease and beating Phil Wetherup for the game-winner.

Marechek scored three goals and dished out four assists, leading the Wings with seven points. However, in the goal column, "Hollywood" was outdone by Henderson, Cromwell, and Tower, who each found rope four times.

Prout (three goals, five assists) and Driscoll (one goal, seven assists) each had eight points for the Saints. Bendig, though, had the most goals, scoring all four of his in an eight-minute span.

BOX SUMMARY
                                   1  2  3  4 OT     TOT
Philadelphia Wings (5-5)           7  4  4  2  1  --  18
New York Saints (1-10)             5  1  6  5  0  --  17

PHILADELPHIA WINGS            NEW YORK SAINTS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Marechek       3 - 4     7    Prout          3 - 5     8
Cromwell       4 - 2     6    Driscoll       1 - 7     8
Henderson      4 - 2     6    Bendig         4 - 1     5
Ratcliffe      2 - 4     6    Panos          3 - 2     5
Tower          4 - 0     4    Shearer        2 - 1     3
Marohl         0 - 2     2    Shanahan       2 - 0     2
Spano          0 - 2     2    Ghedina        0 - 2     2
A Martin       1 - 0     1    Culp           1 - 0     1
Candy          0 - 1     1    Wills          1 - 0     1
Cantabene      0 - 1     1    N Polanco      0 - 1     1
Eliuk          0 - 1     1    
R Traynor      0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           45    Shots on goal           67
Saves made by (GA)      50    Saves made by (GA)      27
   Eliuk (17)        50          Wetherup (9)      19
                                 Nash (9)           8
Penalties               11    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         22    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       9
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         3
   Cromwell           1          Panos              2
   Henderson          1          Prout              1
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        0
   Cromwell           1          (None)
   Marechek           1          
Loose Balls             92    Loose Balls             96
   Spano             19          Prout             20
   A Martin          17          Driscoll          13
   Eliuk             10          Panos              9
                                 Shearer            9
Faceoffs Won            20    Faceoffs Won            18
   Cantabene    (19-15)          Ghedina      (12-10)
   R Traynor    ( 1- 3)          Shanahan     ( 6-10)

  *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NEW YORK SAINTS ***