| Bard Turns Lights Out on Maccabees February 22, 2009 |
| The group that once stretched one night's worth of oil into eight glorious days couldn't summon up the miracle necessary to overcome Stevenson Gym's home court advantage, as Justin White's 39 points paced Bard to a 75-70 victory over Yeshiva in the season finale for both teams. Adam Shear added 14 points for the Raptors, while Yonah Greenstein had 12, including a three-pointer with under a minute left to put Bard ahead to stay, and two free throws to seal the game. Martin Leibovich had 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead Yeshiva, a team full of mensches who took the credo "Thou Shall Not Steal" to its logical extreme, forcing just five Bard turnovers all game. Meanwhile, Bard's pressure defense allowed the Raptors to lead at halftime, 33-29, despite shooting just 39 percent in the first half. In the second half, with victory floating in plain sight like a buoyant tourist in the Dead Sea, Bard's shooting became sweeter than Manischewitz Concord Grape-nearly 52 percent overall, 57 percent from beyond the arc-please rise. Clearly, the dreidel of fortune has spun Bard's way, as the Bard victory likely portends a period of nearly nine months without another setback. As for the Yeshiva players, the result was the same, regardless of the outcome- a trip home to a phone call from Mom wondering why she hasn't heard from them all day. |