Lancers Dunk Minutemen for Second Time This Season

On Thursday, the Livingston boys basketball team was looking to garner its second win against powerhouse Newark Academy. 

They  delivered, again.

But it sure was a close game, with the Lancers narrowly winning 48-47 at the buzzer.  

Livingston's balanced scoring attack led the way.  The Lancers had four players who scored eight points or more. Junior captain Matt Fung scored a dozen points, including a pair of three pointers. Dan Abrahams added 11 points while Sam Abam and Sam White each added eight points.

The Minuetmen also had a big game, with forward Matt Gravesande scoring a game-high of 23 points, including 19 in the second half.  But the Lancers defense stymied the rest of the Minutemen offense outside of Gravesande in the second half.

"Every time that we have played them we have come off a loss," said Cohen about his team bouncing back on Thursday, following a loss earlier in the week tho Newark's Central High.

Cohen added that the team's game plan yesterday was to go on the offensive.

"We don't start any seniors so we have been talking to them all year about attacking the basket," said Cohen.

Although the loss was hard for Newark Academy coach Jim Stoeckel, he was happy that Gravesande finally broke out offensively. Gravesande had fractured his left hand in team's previous match-up against Livingston, back in January, when  the Minutemen lost 57-51.

"This was the first game that he played well since he broke his hand," said Stoeckel who believes that Gravesande is starting to figure out how to play with a wrapped hand.

For Livingston's Cohen and Abam, they were willing to allow Gravesande to get his points.

"That was the plan," said Cohen about allowing Gravesande to try to take it all on his own. "Overall, I thought we played well defensively."

Newark Academy played without guard Zaire Williams, out with a hip injury. Williams had 19 points in the first game against Livingston.

"We were confident coming into the game because we beat them with Zaire at our house," said Abam.

But it was still not easy for Livingston.

In the first half,  Newark Academy  led the way.  The Minutemen's Chris Cutri scored eight of his 12 points in the beginning of the game and the team led 19-11 at the start of the second quarter. The Lancers, though, made it a little tighter with a bucket from Abrahams to slice the Newark Academy lead to three, 20-17.

But the Minutemen ended the first half with baskets from Griffin Glatt and Gravesande to give Newark Academy the seven-point lead, 24-17.

Down at halftime, Cohen gave his team a pep talk.

"The coach told us to pick-up the defensive intensity," said Abam.

Stoeckel, though, thought his team was primed to take the win, especially because even with his team playing poorly in the second half, they were ahead.

"I'm dumbfounded," said Stoeckel. "We played poorly in the second quarter and we were still ahead."

Although the win was sweet for Livingston, it will not improve their record to above .500, which is needed by Saturday's state deadline for the state playoffs. But it might give them an at-large bid for Group 4 North 1 section if the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) allows under .500 record teams to play in the postseason. The NJSIAA will only look at under .500 schools if there are not enough over .500 schools to fill the entire 16-team bracket.