Owls valiant in defeat

As has too often been the case in the 2011-12 basketball season, Lynbrook put forth a tremendous effort only to fall a little short in the end. 

The Owls got 22 points from junior guard Matt Murphy, but visiting West Hempstead left the floor with a 57-50 win Jan. 18. Junior Vinny DiLorenzo scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Rams improved to 3-3 in Conference A-III. 

The Owls held a five-point lead at the intermission, but a dominant third quarter by West Hempstead put the Rams ahead to stay. Lynbrook was outscored 20-5 in the quarter. West Hempstead’s Tyree Glascoe added 16 points. 

Lynbrook coach Chris Rube likes the effort his team is giving. “The guys are out there working hard, but our lack of consistency, especially on the offensive end, continues to hurt us,” Rube said. “West Hempstead made some nice adjustments and got out on our shooters in the second half. We did a nice job limiting Glascoe, but to their credit, other guys stepped up and made some big plays.”

After splitting their first two conference contests, a loss to Great Neck North and a win over Valley Stream South, the Owls have dropped five straight games in a conference that many believe is the most competitive in the county.

West Hempstead came into the game off a loss to defending Class B champion Manhasset. With Murphy filling it up, and sophomore Mike McVeigh (13 points) hitting from the perimeter, the Owls looked to have a good shot at pulling off a victory.

However, the Rams are known as a deep team that will wear opponents down with their hard work and athleticism. West Hempstead, paced by DiLorenzo, Glascoe and senior Ray Alexander (14 points), quickly took the lead in the third quarter and iced the game with clutch shooting from the line in the final eight minutes. Sophomore Darren Davy added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Rams.

One game prior to the matchup with West Hempstead, the Owls lost another heartbreaker, this time to Manhasset. The Indians had all five starters score in double figures and sent Lynbrook home on the short end of a 68-61 decision.

The Owls, who were playing with a depleted roster, got a career-high 16 points from John Boni and senior Patrick Geiger added 15 points in the loss. Boni hit on four three-pointers. Manhasset got a game-high 18 points from Mikey Graham.

Rube hopes the Owls can have a better second half. “We’ve done a good job at controlling the tempo and limiting our turnovers, but we need to improve our boxing out and rebounding,” Rube said. “We just need to keep working hard, execute better, and get a little more consistency. The effort is there, and hopefully we’ll get better results.

Lynbrook welcomes Valley Stream South to the Owls Nest for a Friday night showdown with the neighboring Falcons. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.