SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- DeShaun Williams was acquitted Tuesday of assault charges filed by a former female student.

A six-member jury cleared the Syracuse basketball player after deliberating less than three hours. The panel returned its verdict shortly after having key testimony from the morning session re-read. The trial lasted two days.

''It's definitely a feeling of relief. This case has been driving me up the wall,'' Williams said. ''I just wanted a fair trial and to prove I was innocent. Now, I just want to get back to school and start playing.''

Williams, 21, was accused of hitting Nicole Wilcox during a fight at a bar just off campus in early May, just hours after final exams ended. The blow caused a cut that required four stitches to close.

''I don't feel like I lost. I feel like I won,'' said Wilcox, 21, of Baldwinsville, who was Otto the Orange, the university mascot at sporting events, for three years. ''This was real hard. Now I know why victims don't come forward. I just wanted to stand up for myself.''

Asked if she still thought the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Williams hit her, Wilcox said: ''When you get blindsided by a truck, you may not see it coming but you know where it came from.''

Testimony by Mia Ballard, a 19-year-old Syracuse student, appeared to turn the case in Williams' favor. During questioning Tuesday, she said she spent the day with Williams and his girlfriend and accompanied them to Konrad's, the bar where the brawl erupted.

Ballard said the trio didn't have anything to drink before going out around midnight. Once inside the bar, she said Williams left the group for about five minutes and began arguing with Wilcox before rejoining them in the crowded bar.

''He told us she was trying to fight him,'' Ballard said. ''I walked over to her and punched her in the face.''

''Did she fall down?'' defense attorney James McGraw asked.

''Yes,'' Ballard replied.

''Did you see DeShaun Williams punch Nicole Wilcox in the face at any time?'' McGraw asked.

''No,'' Ballard said.

Ballard said she told McGraw her version of the fight soon after it occurred but never was questioned by police. When asked why she agreed to testify, Ballard said: ''I would never allow somebody to get punished for something I did.''

Williams, who has maintained his innocence, said he exchanged words with Wilcox and pushed her after she shoved him.

''I turned around and a brawl broke out,'' said Williams, who fell asleep in court several times on Tuesday. ''I saw her (Ballard) hit her but didn't know if that was the punch.''

Prosecutor Patrick Quinn was not surprised by the verdict.

''Any time you have cases involving alcohol, late hours and fights, it's difficult for jurors to hold people accountable,'' said Quinn, who was aware of Ballard but had not found anyone to back up her story. ''Maybe they believed her enough to create enough doubt in their minds.''

Williams, who will be a senior next year, is a two-year starter who last season averaged 16.4 points and 4.2 assists per game. He remains suspended from school pending the lifting of university sanctions. McGraw said he expected that to happen Wednesday.

''I'd be shocked if they didn't,'' he said.

Williams is academically ineligible to play for the Orangemen and needs to complete several courses to be able to rejoin the team.

''We're hopeful that he will be able to come back to summer school and prove himself academically, which is the No. 1 issue,'' coach Jim Boeheim said.