60.0°,
Overcast Late-game heroics lift Mules
Posted
Malverne's Dashawn Moorer, right, defends against Akil County of Valley Stream South during the Mules' recent Conference ABC-I victory.
Frank Koester/Herald
Senior guard DaShawn Moorer’s three-pointer with 41 seconds to play led Malverne to 70-65 come-from-behind win over visiting Valley Stream South last Friday. The Mules improved to 5-2 in Conference ABC-II.
Moorer, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit three from downtown in a 23-11 fourth quarter as the Mules rallied from a 44-37 deficit. Xavier Bernard added 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Bernard hit six three-pointers, including four in the opening quarter. Obinna Nwaigwe had 18 points for Valley Stream South.
The win followed a dramatic 64-63 win over Manhasset. Bernard’s three-point basket with six seconds remaining was the difference, as Malverne came all the
Malverne coach Darrol Lopez is happy with the victories, but would prefer the Mules didn’t wait until the waning moments to pull games out. “We’re like the cardiac kids right now,” Lopez said. “When the fourth quarter comes around, we start to focus a little more on winning ball games. We need to bring the same effort and intensity for four quarters. We’re finishing well, but we can’t continue to wait until crunch time to start playing.”
Moorer, who is averaging 24 points per game, has been the Mules most consistent player. He has hit for 20 points or more in a game on six different occasions, including a school-record 56 in a quadruple overtime victory over West Hempstead.
The Mules have also received strong backcourt play from Cory Alexander. The junior guard has averaged 15 points per contest, and scored a career-high 22 on two occasions. Alexander tallied 22 in an opening win over Long Beach, and duplicated the feat in the marathon game with West Hempstead. Bernard’s play of late has been encouraging.
The Mules, who have won four consecutive Nassau Class B titles, have had an up-and-down season. But, Malverne is younger and has far less experience than it has had in past seasons. While the guard play has been stellar at times, it hasn’t had a great deal of success up front.
Lopez is hopeful that Malverne will peak at the right time and have another successful run in the playoffs. “This year has been very different than past seasons,” Lopez said. “We don’t have the depth or experience that we’ve had, especially in the frontcourt. We have a lot of work to do. We have to get better with managing the clock, keeping our opponents from living on the free throw line, get our inside game to be more of a factor, and to play four quarters of basketball. I wish we had a little more time to improve, and to jell as a team. Time will tell.”
Malverne closes the regular season at home against Jericho on Monday at 6:45 p.m.
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments