It’s never easy entering enemy territory, especially with sole possession of first place on the line.
The Mineola boys basketball team found that out as they were defeated by the Rams of West Hempstead who held on to their slim conference lead with a 65-55 victory Tuesday night at West Hempstead High School.
West Hempstead was led by an exceptional performance on the Senior Night of Vinny DiLorenzo who scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 23 rebounds.
Both teams struggled with their shooting, which led to several fast break points on both sides.
Ultimately, the Rams capitalized on a bevy of Mustang turnovers, which allowed them to outscore them 17-6 in the first quarter as well as 19-9 in the third quarter.
“We just didn't shoot the ball as well tonight,” Mineola head coach Jim Hegmann said.
The Mustangs were able to cut the deficit to as low as 8 points, led by the hot hand of senior Malcolm Brown (18 points) and Justin Oomen (11 points).
“He stepped up when he needed to in the second half, (he) played like a senior,” said Hegmann regarding Brown.
The Mustangs backcourt of Brown and Brian Gaffney stifled the Rams offense at times which is led by Tyree Glascoe, who has eclipsed 20 points on 20 seperate occasions this season, an efficiency resembling NBA-star Carmelo Anthony.
They were able to hold Glascoe to only 12 points.
Unfortunately, the offense for the Mustangs never got in sync, aside from a fourth quarter shooting spree which resulted in 28 points.
The loss stings a bit more considering a victory would have given the Mustangs a one game advantage over the Rams in the loss column in the A-IV conference.
During the last matchup between these two teams on January 8, the Mustangs triumphed over the Rams with a 78-65 victory. Brown was the star of that game as he recorded a game-high 36 points.
The Mustangs will have two regular season games remaining, at Clarke and home against Valley Stream North, and must win both while hoping for West Hempstead to at most split their remaining two games in order to take over the top spot of the conference.
1 2 3 4 F Mineola 6 12 9 28 55 West Hempstead 17 7 19 22 65Mineola Scoring Statistics Player Position FGs 3PTs FTs Points Malcolm Brown Guard 3 2 6 18 Justin Oomen Forward 2 2 1 11 Brian Gaffney Guard 4 0 1 9 Steven Gessner Forward 2 0 5 9 Mike Waszychuk Guard 1 0 4 6 Bobby Rogers Forward 1 0 0 2
Seaford Scoring Statistics Player FGs 3PTs FTs Points Anthony Beaubrun 6 1 2 17 Vinny DiLorenzo 6 0 4 16 Darren Davy 6 0 1 13 Tyree Glascoe 5 0 2 12 Tayvon Hall 2 0 0 4 Akil Phillip 1 0 0 2 James Valerio 0 0 1 1
