Down 60-57 in the final minute of the game on Saturday, things looked dire for the hometown Lynx. Step one of the comeback was achieved when Joseph Cantey came down the court, found some space near the top of the arc, and confidently knocked down the game-tying triple. Step two came as a Buccaneer was whistled for an illegal screen with less than ten seconds to play. The three step process of a comeback was near-executed, it would just take one final shot. Joseph Cantey, with a team-high 20 points, would appear to be the most likely option. As Cantey ran down the court, in near identical fashion to moments before, MassBay blitzed him as he approached the 3PT line. The senior guard quickly shoveled a pass to the wing, to Markel Brown, who stood right in front of the NHTI bench. Brown got the shot up in the air with a defender right in his face on the closeout.
In these moments, clutch-time also becomes "Cell Phone time". Everybody pulls out their phones in anticipation of a must-see moment. All cell phones sat on Markel as he landed back on the floor and watched the ball slowly soar towards the basket. So many times in these moments the crowd is brought back to earth as the shot narrowly misses. This was not one of those times. The ball didn't hit the rim, because it fell straight through on a perfect swish. The celebration was immediate as the team flooded the floor to mob the game-winning shooter.
NHTI picked up their first win of the new year and did it with some new faces making big contributions. New-Comers Jordan Polanco (14 PT, 6 REB, 2 STL) & Isaac Ynfante (7 PT, 10 REB, 2 BLK) were huge parts of this victory. Joseph Cantey ended with a team-high 20 points to go alongside 6 rebounds & 5 assists. The hero Markel Brown ended with 10 points, 6 rebounds, & 6 steals in the victory.
NHTI men's basketball will look to carry the positive momentum from this win into their next game on Thursday January 16th vs SMCC. Fans looking to see them in person can see them the following day, Friday January 17th as they take on Washington County at 8:00 PM at NHTI.
