TECH BOSTON ENDS BELMONT BOYS BASKETBALL DREAM SEASON 61-53
By Jim Baldwin
Boston, MA. 3/13/19. Behind their usual in-your-face defense, rebounding dominance on the offensive boards—and junior Shamar Browder’s 30 points—the Tech Boston Bears pulled away from Belmont and Danny Yardemian (27) in the fourth quarter last night at the TD Garden, 61-53, to move on to the state Division 2 finals in Worcester Saturday.
The Bears employed the same tactics they had used effectively a month ago to edge the Marauders in the Comcast Tourney, effectively overplaying passing lanes on defense making it difficult for Belmont to get into their sets.
And their relentless attack on the offensive glass had two devastating results. On trip after trip, they got second and third chances, while Belmont rarely got rebounds to trigger their running game. Belmont needs to play fast, and Tech’s rebounding threw sand in their gears.
“Yeah. We weren’t able to play as fast as we normally like to,” said Belmont coach Adam Pritchard. “A lot of that had to do with them. They were so active on their offensive rebounding that we really had to put four or five guys under the basket and that curtailed our fast break. So we always had to come down and set up against their defense, and that’s a really tough defense.”
Browder and Yardemian provided an interesting undercard for this heavyweight fight. Each player scored close to half of his team’s points as neither defense could stop either one from finishing at the rim. Midway through the third quarter a Yardemian layup followed by a deep three, one of only three trifectas for Belmont, put the Marauders on top 31-29.
Then Browder, at 5’ 6” the shortest man on the court, went on an incredible one-man run. From mid-way through the third to the 4:30 mark of the fourth, about eight minutes of basketball, Browder scored all 18 of Tech’s points, single handedly bringing them from two points down to a 46-41 lead, the last of his run coming on a spectacular falling down finish of a fast break.
Meanwhile, the Belmont offense consisted of a pick on top for Yardemian, with the dynamic guard penetrating down the lane searching for the hoop or the foul. Nine times he got the hoop, but made it to the line only three; just once in the second half.
“We were trying to get to the basket or get to the line,” Pritchard said.
But the refs were letting the boys play.
Neither team could get an advantage over the first three quarters. The score was tied at 12 at the end of one, 26 at halftime and 41-40 Belmont at the end of three.
Tech could not stop Yardemian at one end of the floor and Belmont could not stop Tech’s dominance on the offensive boards at the other.
In the fourth quarter Tech finally managed to slow Yardemian with double teams, and the Marauders suffered a crucial drought that lasted all the way to the 2:42 mark. It decided the game.
During Belmont’s five-minute dry spell, Browder and backcourt mate senior Lyron Bennet managed a 10-0 run to break away by nine points 50-41. Finally Belmont senior co-captain Ben Sseruwagi hit a corner three—off a diving kick-out from the lane by Yardemian—to end the drought, but it was too late.
The Marauders fought back and closed to five but that’s as close as they could come. Out of time, they were forced to foul, and Bennet erased any hope of a comeback by draining ten straight free throws down the stretch.
Bennet finished with 16 points for Tech, and Sseruwagi was the only other Marauder in double figures with 13.
Reflecting on the season, Pritchard said, “It was a terrific run. To make it this far, the kids working so hard, it’s been quite an experience, for sure. We lost to a great team. I give ‘em a lot of credit. They did a terrific job.”
For Belmont it was the last game for the four senior co-captains Yardemian, Sseruwagi, Dan Seraderian and Jake Herlihy.
Yardemian ends his brilliant career as the high scorer in program history, but he won’t be far away next year playing for Bentley University next door in Waltham.
Despite losing some talented seniors, Pritchard will have much to build around for next year with three starting level players coming back including Middlesex League all-stars guard Mac Annus and sophomore Tim Minicozzi plus the valuable sixth man sophomore Preston Jackson-Stephens.
Tech Boston will defend their state title Saturday in Worcester against Taconic, the west champs In a rematch of last year’s final.