Rams top Mules on late basket

After squandering an eight-point second-half lead against host Malverne in the consolation game of the Hank Williams Memorial Tournament Dec. 29, West Hempstead had time to make amends with 21.7 seconds left and the score tied.

Rams coach Ed Cosgrove designed a play to get the ball in the hands of Tyree Glascoe, who had the hot hand all night, but the Mules quickly doubled the slick junior guard. Glascoe dished the ball to senior Raymond Alexander, who made a move toward the basket and delivered a perfect pass to sophomore Darren Davy underneath. Davy converted a layup with 9.7 seconds to provide the difference for West Hempstead in a 66-64 victory.

“We planned to get the ball to Tyree and have him work off a couple of screens and try to get to the basket,” Cosgrove said. “The thinking was either he’d score or get to the line. They were all over Tyree, then Raymond took it and we told Darren during the timeout to get into position in case his man helped out, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Malverne, which got a combined 33 points from big men Andre Berry (18) and Aaron Jackson (15), had a couple of chances to force overtime in the closing seconds but couldn’t get a shot to drop.

Glascoe poured in a career-high 33 points and added seven assists and five rebounds, and Alexander and Davy had 11 points apiece as the Rams improved to 3-3 overall. “Tyree had 26 at halftime and they were running different guys on him all night,” Cosgrove said. “They were trying to wear him down and they did a better job on him in the second half, but we had other guys step up.”

Vinny DiLorenzo, Dimetri Francis and Danny Sheeler all hit key second-half shots for West Hempstead, which trailed by as many as five points in the fourth quarter.

“This whole tournament was a confidence builder,” Cosgrove said. “In the first round against Elmont, we played well and we just ran out of ammunition. We’re starting to get into a routine and each game we’re becoming a little deeper. In the conference we’re in, we’re going to need the bench to come through.”

Down 56-55 entering the fourth, the Rams moved ahead on Francis’ basket but Berry, a junior, hit three consecutive shots to give Malverne a 62-57 advantage. West Hempstead chipped away at the deficit and settled for single free throws by Sheeler, Glascoe and Davy to get within two before Jackson, a sophomore, made it 64-60.

But the Mules (2-2 overall), who in the first round lost 100-77 to Lawrence despite 25 points from Berry, didn’t score in the final two minutes. A Davy field goal and a pair of Glascoe foul shots knotted the game with 55.7 seconds to go.