Malverne slows down in split

The Malverne boys’ basketball team hit a bump in the road in its quest for another conference championship last week, but Trey Robinson made sure the Mules avoided a pothole.

Two days after a disappointing loss to Conference BC-leader Friends Academy, Robinson led a second-half rally that was needed for host Malverne to get by two-win East Rockaway 55-41 on Jan. 27. It was the Mules’ 11th win in 12 games and kept them one game behind Friends for first place at press time.

Malverne (11-2, 8-2 Conference BC) led 10-5 after the first quarter, but the Rocks scored six of the first eight points of the second to close to within one. Farvens Ulysse finished off a 3-point play with 2:39 left for a 19-15 left, but East Rockaway kept the Mules scoreless for the remainder of the half and got two baskets by Chase Vertuccio and a pair of foul shots by Tyler Hyland with less than 10 seconds left to take a 21-19 advantage into the break.

The Rocks made the home crowd even more nervous after Hyland’s 3-pointer made it 26-21 early in the third, but Malverne exploded for a 13-2 run that gave them a 36-27 lead entering the fourth. Robinson had six points, Joshua Croom drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Keondre Greene hit a pair of jumpers to key the surge.

Robinson added seven more points in the final session to finish with 17, despite sitting out the second quarter after picking up two fouls in the first.

“We’re winning, but we’re struggling,” said assistant coach Walter Aksionoff.

Against Friends Academy, Robinson tried to help erase a 10-point fourth quarter deficit in the fourth quarter by collecting 11 points in a six-minute span that brought the Mules to within 64-60 with two minutes left, but the Quakers answered with a four-point play to put the game away. Robinson finished with a season-high 32 points.

“We had every opportunity to knock off Friends,” Aksionoff said. “Certainly, if you take a look at the foul line, [look at] how many shots they made. I preach this every day. You win with defense, and you win with shooting foul shots.”

The 6-foot-7 Robinson is averaging just over 16 points a game and has been the Mules’ top scorer seven times this season.

“Trey has to come every day,” Aksionoff said. “He’s got to come to play every quarter. But he goes in and swung [his arms] and all of a sudden, he’s sitting down because he got dopey fouls. I just say to him, ‘Let the game come to you.’”

Blagrove is averaging just under 14 points a game and Ulysse is scoring at just over 10 point a clip.

Malverne was supposed to visit Locust Valley last Friday, but the impending snowstorm postponed the contest until this Thursday. As a result, the Mules now have three games in each of the last two weeks of the regular season.