Livingston Squeezed by Buzzer

To say the final seconds of the Essex County Tournament first round game between No. 15 Caldwell and No. 18 Livingston were hectic would be an extreme understatement.

When it was over, it was a buzzer-beating layup by Mike Fess that propelled Caldwell to a 49-47 home victory Saturday.

With 25 seconds remaining and the game tied at 47, the Lancers set up a play coming out of a timeout.

However, after a Livingston missed shot, Caldwell was able to corral the rebound and get the ball in Fess' hands.

But Livingston stole the ball from Fess and started coming down the other way. With less than five seconds left, the Chiefs forced a Lancers' turnover and Dave Levinsky found Fess, who was just able to beat the buzzer to propel his team into the second round.

"You're trying to figure out if you want to call a timeout or you don't" Caldwell coach Mike Mancino said of the final sequence. "But Michael Fess got the ball in his hands with 10 seconds left and for us that's a play on."

"He lost it on what I thought was a foul, but it was no big deal. The kids kept playing, because we always preach to make the next play. They made the play and then it was a very heady play by Dave and Michael."

In the fourth quarter, Caldwell held a 43-35 lead with 4:45 left to play. But Alex Kalmus began Livingston's rally as he scored in the paint to cut the lead to six. After a Chiefs' turnover, Sam White drained a 3-pointer from the corner to trim the deficit to 43-40.

Caldwell's Danny Tompkins missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which kept the door open for Livingston. White scored again and the Lancers were down by only one. Two free throws by Levinsky gave the Chiefs a three-point lead.

Livingston's Matt Fung hit his first free throw and missed his second, but Kalmus was able to gather the rebound and tie the game for the first time since the opening tip.

Fess knocked down two free throws, but Livingston answered when Sam Butensky drove the lane and finished over a number of Chiefs.

"They are young kids," Livingston coach Dave Cohen said of his squad. "They hung around and made plays all game. We had the ball with under 10 seconds, but they made a play and their senior [Fess] is a great player."

Both teams tried to combat each other's stars. The Lancers used a variety of half-court traps and double teams to get the ball out of Fess' hands. Caldwell employed a number of defenses, including a triangle-and-2, as the Chiefs tried to slow White and Fung.

"I thought that we played well," Mancino said. "The comeback had something to do with us being in the penalty and not wanting them waltzing to the free-throw line. Plus we missed some free throws."

Caldwell (11-5) was led by Fess, who finished with 15 points. Conner Smith chipped in with 13, including two big 3-pointers and Levinsky scored 11 and also had the biggest assist of the game.

Livingston (6-8) was led by Kalmus' 14 points off the bench. Dan Abrahams chipped in with eight points.

Caldwell advances to the second round to play at second-seeded Newark East Side in next Saturday. The Chiefs lost to the Red Raiders 43-35 in last year's tournament.

"This was our same game last year," Mancino said. "We lost by 10 to a top-20 team. It's going to take a monster effort, but we're happy for the experience and we're going down there to win."