By Jim Hintelmann
RUMSON-The combination of a bad start along with a 7-for-17 effort on the free throw line cost Rumson Fair Haven Regional a possible upset Friday against defending A Division Central Manasquan.
The Warriors held off a late Rumson rally for a 50-46 victory in a game played in front of a noisy, standing room only crowd.
“Last year we beat Shore Regional in our opener,” said Rumson coach Chris Champeau. “But this year we couldn’t get over the top.”
“We were off from the foul line tonight,” he said. “We needed to make the free throws, make our layups and not turn the ball over. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Despite the slow start, Rumson still made a game of it, but just fell short.
Trailing 46-37 with three minutes remaining, the Bulldogs rallied with six straight points, making use of an effective full court press that forced four Manasquan turnovers.
Jack Luby got it started with a free throw and put back, and Brendan Barry – 17 points – added a layup. Tom Famulary made one of two from the line to narrow the lead to 46-43 with 1:43 remaining.
–Sean Simmons
Manasquan’s Luke O’Shaughnessy hit a free throw at 1:12 to make it a four-point lead. Rumson still had a chance but it missed three straight shots.
O’Shaughnessy made it 48-43 with two foul shots with 10 seconds remaining, but Ryan Jensen clinched it with a free throw.
“We wanted to put pressure on them and make them run up and down the court,” said Champeau. “I think we were a little tight in the beginning because Manasquan is ranked No. 3 in the Shore.”
Manasquan scored the first eight points of the game while holding Rumson scoreless.
“These opening games are always wide open,” said Manasquan coach Andrew Bilodeau. “We developed a good rivalry with Rumson and this was a good test for us.”
Manasquan increased its lead to11-1 before Aiden McMenamen and Barry drilled three-point goals to make it 11-7.
The Warriors came back with six in a row on a drive and three-pointer by Barry to cut the lead to 21-20, but Rumson never was able to catch up.
“We hung in there and came back,” Champeau pointed out. “I’ll take that as a positive but give credit to Manasquan, We had to make shots and didn’t do it.”
