ARLINGTON WINS BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 65-58
Lexington, MA. 1/8/18. Rumor has it that the residents of Arlington and Lexington actually cooperated back in the 1770’s, but none of that generosity was in evidence Tuesday night as their two boys varsity basketball teams staged an intense battle on Lexington’s floor which Arlington survived 65 -58.
Sophomore Bensley Joseph and senior co-captain Dom Black sparked a 26 point Spy Ponder fourth quarter explosion as the visitors clawed their way back from an early 15 point deficit to secure the hard fought win and stay unbeaten in Middlesex Liberty play.
It was a struggle. Lexington flailed away in the early going opening the game with a 12-0 run. By the end of the first quarter the Minutemen, led by senior co-captain Jack Amsler and senior Anthony Clough, had hit eight of twelve shots, all four of their three pointers and had Arlington staggered in a 21 – 6 hole.
Meanwhile Arlington was as cold as the ice on Spy Pond hitting just three of their 17 first quarter attempts.
“They came out really hot and made their shots,” Arlington coach John Bowler reflected. “We had to battle back. We always believed we could win if we just put some stops together and executed on offense. Our shots just weren’t falling early, but eventually they did.”
Between the two, Joseph (game high 24) and Black (15) combined for 19 final quarter points and, along with senior co-captain Ben Wasco (9), made all of Arlington’s 13 free throws down the stretch with the game on the line.
“We’ve been good at closing out games,” said Bowler. “We stress that we’ve got to make free throws. Make the free throws; make your lay-ups. You’ll win games.”
In the opening two minutes of the final quarter, Black seemed to be everywhere. First, he put back an offensive rebound on junior Steven McGillivray’s missed free throw to put Arlington ahead for the first time 43- 41. In the few minutes that followed, he stole a Minuteman pass and dropped a perfect lane bounce pass to Wasco for an uncontested lay-up, tipped in a Joseph miss and finished off his personal spurt with two free throws to put Arlington up 52-46.
“That’s the Dom Black we’re used to seeing,” said Bowler.
The lead was not safe. Senior co-captain Jimmy Lane outfought several Spy Ponders to retrieve his own free throw miss and set up Amsler’s driving baseline lay-up to bring Lexington back within a basket at 54-52 with 2:30 left.
20 seconds later Lane’s offensive rebound put-back tied it at 54, but from that point Joseph took over.
The springy sophomore became essentially unguardable, repeatedly getting to the rim, drawing fouls and calmly converting six straight freebies to lead an 11-4 Spy Ponder run that closed out the game.
The smooth shooting Amsler led Lexington with 21 points while Lane and Clough added 15 and 8 respectively.
“It wasn’t easy, but to stay perfect in the league is huge,” a relieved Bowler concluded.
It doesn't get any easier for Arlington. Winchester, also unbeaten in the league, comes to visit Friday night at 7.