Sharks win tight one over Newbury 67-63
Filed under Athletics, Basketball
Posted by , November 28, 2007
View all posts for November 2007
BOSTON - Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch and strong rebounding in the waning moments helped propel Simmons to its second win of the season with a 67-63 triumph over Newbury in the home opener for the Sharks.
Simmons jumped out to an early lead as freshman Morgan Johnson (Waterbury, Conn.) had the hot hand early for the Sharks, to help lift them to a 35-29 halftime lead.
Newbury bounced back in the early moments of the second half and tied the game at 41 a piece at the 15 minute mark. But the Sharks responded right back with a 12-0 run to take a 53-41 lead, led by Sarah Clayton (Falmouth, Mass.) who scored four of her 10 points on the run.
Newbury’s Catherine Cullen (Beverly, Mass.) brought her team right back into the game with a couple of buckets and the Nighthawks had crawled back to within one with six minutes remaining. The Nighthawks stayed within a possession in the final minutes, and tied the game with 1:46 left on a pair of free throws by Cullen who finished with 24 points.
Moments later a free throw by Jessica Lightfoot (Sewell, N.J.) Simmons came right back with some clutch free throw shooting of its own as Johnson tied the game with a free throw with 1:25 left. She then gave her squad the lead with 43 seconds to play with another freebie.
The Sharks made two great defensive stands down the stretch, and junior captain Lauren Kreckie (Braintree, Mass.) grabbed her 15th rebound of the night to seal the win.
The Sharks are back in action at home on Thursday night when they take on UMass-Dartmouth at the Holmes Sports Center beginning at 7 p.m.
