Lancer Boys Held off at Home

A cold stretch during the final four minutes of play tonight in Livingston ended the Lancers' chance at winning their home Holiday Tournament. West Orange came into the Health and Wellness Center in Livingston High School and held off the Livingston boys basketball team 56-49.

With a bit under four minutes to play, Lancer sophomore Sam Abaum picked-up a steal and a layup to bring the Livingston boys within two at 48-46.  But from that point on, the Lancers went just 1-for-10 from the floor and missed all six of their free throws. Meanwhile, West Orange tacked on some insurance points and walked away with the Lancer Holiday Tournament trophy.

Aside from going cold in the final minutes of the contest, the other big difference in the game was the Lancer defense which played well at times, but then seemed out-of-sync at others. West Orange knocked down 17 layups in the contest, most of which came in the first and third quarters. The easy buckets forced Livingston into a situation where it had to comeback from a deficit. The Lancers were able to get close, but weren't able to get over the hump.

"West Orange is a top 10 team in the county," said Livingston head coach Dave Cohen. "I think going down the road, this will give us tremendous confidence in the county tournament."

West Orange took a one point lead into the break and then opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run. Just when it looked like the Lancers were going to fold in the tents for the night, Livingston mounted its own 12-2 run, sparked by the play of Abaum, who carried the team in the third. The sophomore guard scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the third to bring the Lancers right back into things heading into the fourth, down by just one.

"We just told the kids to stick with the plan," Cohen said. "We knew that we would have some opportunities with turnovers."

The contest was played very closely throughout in the first half, with neither team able to separate from the other. West Orange jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the first, but the Lancers closed on a 6-1 run. In the second quarter, Livingston was actually up by as many as four points on three different occasions. However, the Mountaineers finished the half on a 7-2 run, to take a 26-25 lead into the break.

For the Mountaineers, they were led by Rodney Clervil with 24 points and Duane Morgan with 13. Sam White scored 11 for Livingston.

Despite the open layups, Livingston's defense was not bad, as it held a team which dropped 80 points in its previous game, to below 60 in this one. The Lancers are very young, and as Cohen pointed out, without much of a winning tradition. They aren't used to making big shots late in games and finishing off close competitions.

"West Orange put up 83 points yesterday," Cohen said. "I thought for us to have a chance to win, we would have to be in the 50s. And we definitely had a chance to win."

Livingston fell to 2-2 overall, while West Orange remained unbeaten, improving to 4-0.