Old Bridge High School’s boys’ basketball team held off a late comeback attempt by Monroe Township High School en route to a victory over a Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division rival.
The Knights almost blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, but a rally by the Falcons fell just short. Old Bridge was on the winning side of the 55-51 result in the game that was played on Jan. 11 in Old Bridge.
The Knights were up, 45-36, at the end of the third quarter, but a furious comeback ensued in the fourth, with the Falcons outscoring the Knights, 15-10, in the frame. The Knights were bailed out by Ryan Delacuesta, who had two critical 3-pointers late in the game to seal the victory for Old Bridge.
Delacuesta finished with 10 points in the contest, as did teammate junior Julius Belton. Junior Michael Oliva led the Knights offensively with a game-high 23 points.
Monroe was led by senior Luke Patel, who recorded 12 points in the game. Juniors Joshua Daniels and Michael Kides both finished with 10 points for the Falcons.
The victory improved the Knights’ record to 7-3 on the season.
Old Bridge coach Jim Macomber was thrilled with the fight of his team, and he credited the effort of his players for the victory.
“The kids were phenomenal,” Macomber said. “Junior Michael Oliva had 21 points in the first half for us. He ended up with 23 but led us in the first half, which helped us get the big lead. Delacuesta had 10 points in the second half, including two big threes in the fourth to help us come out with the win. Those guys really had it going for us.”
Macomber was proud of the team’s resiliency, stating that the game was tough because the Knights are still trying to figure out a lot after losing their best player, Jared Meyer, to a knee injury during a Christmas tournament.
“For us to come back and play a very hard Monroe team, and they have a great coach, was tough,” Macomber said. “The kids showed heart and pulled it out in the end. I’m very proud of them for that.”
Macomber still wants to see how his team will perform the rest of the season, stating the young players will be tested the rest of the way.
“Our biggest thing is we’re a very young team,” the coach said. “We have two out of our four seniors start, but the rest are all juniors. So we need to just learn to continue to play hard every minute of every game, and we’ll be fine.”
Old Bridge is tied for second in the Red Division with a 4-1 record.
Monroe is sixth with a 2-3 record in the division. The Falcons are 3-6 overall on the season.
