Talk about a silver linings playbook!
If you told Paul Robeson boys basketball coach Todd Myles his team was going to split two games at the Brooklyn Bridge Holiday Classic, he’d take it — now matter how tough the loss was. The team lost to Poly Prep on a three-point play at the buzzer on Dec. 26, but the squad answered back day later by closed out an important 62–59 victory against Construction on the second day of the showcase at George Westinghouse.
The win benefits the Eagles in Public School Athletic League playoff seeding, because the Red Hawks are the two-time defending Queens Borough champions and are currently in second place in the division.
“Today means more for February and March,” Myles said.
He was pleased to see his team rebound, but it didn’t come without some help from Construction. Robeson’s Jonathan Murray, who scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, made two free throws with 36.4 seconds left to put his team up three, but he missed two after Construction’s Wesley Nelson sunk a layup to bring the score to 60–59 with 17.5 seconds remaining.
On the next possession, Nelson’s finger-roll layup bounced off the rim and out. Robeson’s Issac Kante drew a foul and connected on both of his shots from the charity stripe to seal the win. He and his teammates put the loss to Poly behind them and were happy to head into the New Year on a positive note.
“We weren’t worried about yesterday,” Kante said. “We left that in the past. We came today and did our thing.”
A fast start made the new mind set evident.
“Yesterday we kind of started off slow and at the end we had to fight back,” Murray said of the loss to Poly. “We didn’t want that to happen today, so we played hard from the jump and played defense.”
Robeson fed off the size of Kante and frontcourt mate Isreal Farrington to lead 18–12 after the first quarter and 31–25 at the half. The Eagles (8–3) responded to each of Construction’s run after that.
The Red Hawks shot the ball better and scored in transition after the break. Construction cut Robeson’s lead to 43–41 with 1:46 remaining in the third, but a 6–0 Eagles run — capped by a Kante layup off a Murray feed — put Robeson back up 49–41 going into the fourth.
Construction (11–2) started the final frame with a 10–0 spurt — its first lead since the first quarter — to bring the score to 51-49 with 4:46 to play in the game. A Murray three-pointer sparked a quick, 7–0 response before the game got tight in the final.
Keith Swinton, Rikky Degale, and Farrington each scored 10 points for Robeson, and Nelson paced Construction with 15 points. Marcus Saint Furcy added 13.
The victory gives Robeson, which has already beaten Abraham Lincoln, even more confidence going into the second half of the season. It believes it can play with the elite teams in its division.
“As a team, we can compete,” Murray said. “If we play hard everyday like we do, I think we can compete. I think we are going to be good.”
