Late Three Helps Knights Hang On
SOUTH RIVER, NJ–Capping a Monday night tripleheader of close games at the 2014 Raritan Bay Summer League at South River High School, Old Bridge got off to a fast start, and then had to hold off a fierce charge by the Redhawks to come away with a 43-36 victory. Â The Knights led by 11 on a couple of occasions in the second half including with 4:19 remaining, but the Redhawks rallied with 8 of the next 9 points over a span of 3:40 to pull within four at 40-36 with 39 seconds left.
Old Bridge put the game away though thanks to a three pointer from the right side with 21.3 seconds remaining for the seven point lead that ended up being the final margin of victory. Â The Knights had only four treys in the contest, but three of them came at pivotal times, and allowed them to maintain their lead, and ultimately pull out the victory. Â The first trey came in the final two minutes of the first half. Â The second one came along at the 5:03 mark of the second half after the Redhawks had clawed their way back from an 11 point deficit to pull within six at 34-28. Â Then, of course, there was the final trifecta that put the game out of reach in favor of Old Bridge.
The Knights jumped out to a 6-0 lead in just the first 2:05 thanks to three layups as they came out on fire right off the opening tip. Â The Redhawks managed to cut the deficit in half with a three pointer. Â Old Bridge added another bucket for an 8-3 lead, and built a six point edge at 13-7 before the Redhawks got a three point play to spark a 7-3 rally that closed the gap to 16-14 with 2:38 to go in the first half. Â However, the Redhawks weren’t able to get closer thanks to the first of three key treys by Old Bridge, which sparked a 7-2 spurt to end the half for a 23-16 advantage at the intermission.
The second half began with Old Bridge scoring the first four points including a three from the right side at the 16:31 mark for its largest lead of the game at 27-16. Â The Redhawks didn’t allow the deficit to get any bigger as they rallied with an 8-5 run to pull within eight at 32-24 with just under 10 and a half minutes remaining. Â The Redhawks then scored four of the next six points to pull within six before Old Bridge got its second key three followed by a layup to match its largest lead of the game with 4:19 to play. Â However, the Redhawks continued to scrap, and put together two 4-0 bursts around a one of two showing at the line by Old Bridge to make things interesting at 40-36 with under a minute to play, but couldn’t get closer than that thanks to the backbreaking three by Old Bridge with just over 20 seconds remaining in the contest.