By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It was a broken play. Sam Gosselin made the most of it.
When the Brighton Barons couldn’t get their first option in the closing seconds of Saturday’s consolation match of the Al Masino Memorial Tip Off Tournament, Gosselin was there to take take advantage of the opportunity.
The 5-foot-8 point guard slipped into the paint to convert a rebound and putback with 1.8 seconds remaining as Brighton edged Vertus High School, 55-53.
“We were trying to run a double screen play for Jack Falter, but it broke down,” first-year coach David Tisa explained. “Sam was right there to put it in. I’ll take it.”
It was the junior’s second basket of the game.
“We started running a play for Jack,” Gosselin said. “We ended up running something else. I just went to where I was supposed to go. I thought the time was going to run out. I was so happy.”
The basket capped a back-and-forth affair which saw Brighton take a double-digit lead in the first half only to find themselves trailing by five with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
Sam Gosselin converts the rebound & putback with 1.8 on the clock to give @BaronsHoops a come-from-behind 55-53 victory over Vertus. #ROC pic.twitter.com/pjBufzxUxN
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 2, 2017
“To make the buckets that we made to have a chance to do that was great,” Tisa said. “It’s a good win for these kids. It’s a great win for our program.”
Down 51-46, Jasper Newman finished in the lane for Brighton. Two possessions later, Ryan Martin knotted the game at 51 with a pull-up three from the left wing.
“That’s a senior making a senior play,” Tisa said of Martin who finished with a team-high 15 points. “To make that play in that moment was big.”
Brighton did not trail again.
Falter hit two free throws for a brief lead.
Robert Lowe answered with two free throws of his own for Vertus tying the game with 29.7 seconds remaining.
“Kids stepped up and made plays,” Tisa stated. “To get it done in the fashion that we got it done will pay off down the road.”
Lowe poured in 16 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter when Vertus forced eight turnovers and outscored the Barons 21-12 to take a 45-44 edge into the fourth quarter.
Vertus guard Robert Lowe goes baseline for the reverse layup. pic.twitter.com/INEs0gTTdQ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 3, 2017
“It’s the same thing that happened last night against Eastridge,” Tisa said referring to Brighton’s 68-61 loss on Friday. “We were up at halftime against Eastridge and then fell behind in the third quarter. We have stuff we have to clean up, but again a great win for our program.”
Newman scored 11 points for Brighton. Kendall Clyburne scored seven of his 10 points in the second half.
Jahmel Demery scored seven for Vertus.
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