As Newfane's lead over Akron began to evaporate on Tuesday night, I heard someone say, "this is like CSAT all over again". He was referring to the Panther's home loss to CSAT just 11 days earlier, when Newfane built a 43-26 lead before halftime, only to have the Eagles come soaring back with a 33-7 run, and stun the defending league champs. As it turned out, he was right.
Akron used a 32-10 run spanning through three quarters, to erase an 11-point deficit, earn a nine-point lead, and then hang on for the win, defeating host Newfane, 53-50. The win keeps Akron a game behind CSAT, who they host on Friday, for the N-O league lead. For the Panthers, currently ranked 10th in the Buffalo News small school poll, it was their second league loss and second straight home loss.
The Panthers got out to a six-point advantage after one quarter, 15-9, aided by a steal & score from Reid Weber in the stanza'a final seconds. Five minutes into the second quarter, Newfane owned its largest lead of the game, 22-11. That's when things began to slowly unravel for Newfane.
Akron closed the first half on an 8-2 run, sparked by four points from Steve Poodry off the bench, making it 24-19 at the break. Midway through the third, the Tigers rattled off 10 straight points, and grabbed a lead they would not let go of. The score was 34-32 Akron heading into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers extended to their largest lead on the night with nine unanswered to start the final frame, 43-32. With just 1:43 remaining and Akron leading 47-38, Newfane's Bryan Geise was assessed a technical for reacting to a player who fouled him. Austin Mietz hit a free throw from the 'T', making it 48-38.
Geise did his best to atone for the technical, as he first converted a traditional three-point play with 1:10 remaining and then buried a 3-pointer just nine seconds later, cutting it to 48-44 in the final minute. After the Tigers hit a pair from the free throw line, Newfane's Connor Sears hit a '3' to make it a three-point game. It would all be too little, too late though.
Trailing by four points with five ticks on the game clock, Sears went to the line for three charity tosses. Hit sank the first two, then purposely missed the third. Everything was beautifully executed, except securing the rebound. That distinction went to Connor Ladd, of Akron. Ladd was fouled and made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left. The Panthers got a desperation attempt from '3' off just inside of half court and the final horn sounded. It was off the mark.
Mietz led Akron with a team-high 17 points, which included all nine Tiger points in the first quarter. Poodry added 13 points in the win.
Sears scored a game-high 22 points in the loss, while Geise chipped in 13 points.
-centercourt
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