Thursday, October 1, 2026
Lynbrook’s heavy devotion to free throws paid dividends at the end of Saturday’s Nassau Class A boys’ basketball quarterfinal before a raucous crowd at top-seeded Malverne.
The ninth-seeded Owls, who have every player take 18 foul shots at each practice, sent Devin Byrne to the charity stripe with 0.8 seconds left trailing by one and the senior guard calmly connected on both to deliver a 51-50 upset win. The comeback victory less than two miles from Lynbrook’s home gym rallying from a late nine-point hole sends the it to the semifinals against fourth-seeded Friends Academy at Farmingdale State Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
“That preparation is everything,” said Byrne, who finished with 16 points. “My teammates came up to me and said ‘you’re knocking both of these down’ and I said ‘I got you guys.’”
Byrne’s clutch free throws were set up by a dramatic sequence in which Malverne’s Andrew Innocent drove to the basket and connected on what appeared to be a game-winning floater in the lane with under a second remaining. Moments later, however, officials issued a technical foul on the Mules bench for running onto the court as Lynbrook was attempting to call timeout, giving Byrne his chance to play the hero.
“We take 18 free throws every single practice and Devin’s been our best free throw shooter all season doing it,” Lynbrook head coach Brian Donaldson said. “We knew putting him in that spot he was going to hit both of them.”
Malverne filed a protest of the game’s final sequence with the Nassau County Section VIII governing body, head coach Darrol Lopez said.
Lynbrook (16-6) positioned itself for Byrne’s heroics by railing from a 45-36 deficit with just over three minutes remaining. A Byrne three-pointer cut the margin to 45-44 and a Orji Agwu bucket with just over a minute left off a Malverne turnover gave the Owls their first lead of the afternoon, 46-45.
After Shane Lee sank two free throws to give Malverne the lead back, Agwu once again came through with a layup on the other end to make it 48-47 in Lynbrook’s favor.
Clinging to a 49-48 lead with 15 seconds left, Agwu forced a block that sent the ball down to the other end of the floor but Lynbrook was called for a travel giving Malerne an inbounds play with seven seconds remaining to set up Innocent’s last second shot.
Agwu finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Senior forward Max Dellacona also had a big day with nine points and six rebounds.
“We did this as a team and not one person stood over another,” said Lynbrook senior forward Jake Prince, who tallied four points and three assists. “We worked so hard for this.”
Malverne (16-5), which finished 11-1 in Nassau VII during the regular season, was led by 13 points from Lee and 11 by junior point guard Tristan Inswood. Bryce McIntosh Jason Miletic and Innocent all tallied six points apiece.
The heartbreaking defeat ends the high school career of eight Malverne seniors who positioned the Mules to host a quarterfinal game the last two seasons.
“We had a great journey with the seniors,” Lopez said. “They earned a tremendous amount of respect from me as a coach.”
Lynbrook, which boasts 11 seniors, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 55-31 first round win at No. 8 Wantagh thanks in large part to 17 points and 9 rebounds from Prince. The Owls, who won their last four regular-season games to earn a playoff spot, will now look to continue the magic.
“We have built tons of camaraderie over the past few months,” senior guard Jaime Pereira said. “All the teamwork and composure that we've built resulted in this win for us.”
