Raiders Wear Down Bears In Overtime Thriller

After the Lady Raiders advanced earlier, the boys made it a clean sweep for Ramapo basketball with their victory over Bergenfield in the first round of the North I Group III state tournament.  The Raiders overcame a slow start and played strong down the stretch, enabling them to come up with an exciting 63-59 overtime win.

Much like the Lady Raiders in the first half of Tuesday’s state tournament double-header, the boys did not come out with the energy needed for a “win or go home” state tournament game.

“The first half I thought we came out flat and they took it to us a little bit which is disappointing because this is our gym,” said Ramapo head coach Mickey Hunt.

But in the second half the Raiders came alive as the seniors would not be denied in what would be their last game on their home court.  Senior leaders TJ Hunt (22 points), Matt Bunting (18), and Tyler Ward (11) came up big in the second half, leading Ramapo into the second round.

“I think the second half we came out with a little more energy,” said Hunt.  The coach cited his teams’ ability to contain the point guard, control the boards, and hit free throws down the stretch helped them overcome a seven point halftime deficit.

Starting the second half down 31-24, Ramapo’s defense began to start making things happen.  The Raiders forced a five-second call on the opening inbounds, then after a Matt Bunting layup forced another five-second call.  After Tyler Ward hit his patented floater in the lane the lead was quickly down to three and Bergenfield wisely took a timeout.

Ramapo outscored the Bears by four in the third, although a mild victory, they were gaining the momentum.  Their defense forced an abundance of turnovers and they were getting easy looks thanks to penetration by Ward who drew the extra defender then laid it off for his teammates.  TJ Hunt also came alive in the third, scoring eight of his team-high 22 in the frame.

The game really intensified in the fourth as the two teams went back-and-forth throughout.  Ward continued finding the open man for Ramapo scores while his point guard counterpart, Tarik Ragland (19 points), used his quickness to blow by defenders and get to the line.

After Ragland hit two free throws to put his team up two, Ramapo had the ball with one minute left.  Ward got it to Bunting who missed a tough shot, but Ramapo kept on the pressure and forced the Bears to throw it away.  This time Ward kept it, getting to the rack and drawing the foul with 35 seconds left.  The senior was clutch, hitting both to tie the game up again.

After Bergenfield got the possession on a jump ball, Ward got the steal and hit TJ down-low who was fouled.  TJ had ice running through his veins, hitting both shots to go back up by two.  But again Ragland got to the hoop and drew the foul with 19 seconds to play.  Ragland would match Hunt, hitting both and tying the score at 55.

Ramapo had the ball for the last shot, but Ward’s buzzer-beater rimmed out and we were headed to overtime.

The Raiders completely controlled the overtime period, outscoring the Bears 8-2 on the strength of four more clutch free throws by TJ.

“It’s a great win for us,” said Coach Hunt.  “We like to wear teams down and I think we were able to do that.”

The big win puts Ramapo in the second round in a road game against a very tough Teaneck team.

“We just want to put it all out there and go out on top,” said TJ.