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Schools

Too Little, Too Late: Barnegat Falls One Point Short to Lacey

Despite a heroic fourth quarter run, the Barnegat Bengals lose 53-52 to the Lacey Lions in boys basketball Tuesday night

After taking a 6-0 lead, forcing Lacey to take a timeout not even two minutes in, it looked as if this would be the night Barnegat would finally defeat the neighboring Lions.

That night will have to wait.

Lacey responded quickly, and by the end of the first quarter the game was tied at 12.

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Anthony and Aaron MacGugan, two of the most exciting players in the Shore, struggled to get into a rhythm all night. Anthony MacGugan scored 10, however, all but one point came in the fourth quarter. Aaron only managed to score six on the night.

"We like to play at a fast pace," said Barnegat head coach Erik Mazur. "Lacey always does a nice job using their size defensively. Once they grab a lead they slow the whole game down and make it difficult for the opponents."

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In an extremely physical game, one that Mazur desribed as "the most physical this year," junior forward Ryan Morris thrived.

Morris scored a team high 18 points while battling for rebounds with some of the toughest in the Shore.

Lacey stayed hot throughout the second quarter, claiming a 25-19 lead at halftime, a lead that would not be relinquished.

Barnegat did a great job of containing Lacey's Deon Smith in the first half, limiting him to just five points. In the second half, Smith broke free, totaling 19 points on the night.

"We made it a point to slow him downand for the most part, I think we did," said Mazur. "He has the ability to take over a game and he scored down the stretch but overall I am satisfied with how we contained him."

Trailing 37-30 at the start of the third, things soon got worse for the Bengals. In the fourth quarter Barnegat faced deficits of 10 and 12 on multiple occasions.

Junior Mark McCoy hit a big three pointer and appeared to engerize his team as they started the climb back.

"We were down eight with under a minute to play," said Mazur, "We had some luck on our side aas they missed a few free throws and in the end came up about 10 seconds and a timeout short for a chance to win."

Anthony MacGugan hit a three with 2.4 seconds to get the Bengals within one but time ran out for Barnegat, who fell just short in a 53-52 loss.

Next on the schedule for Barnegat is a match up with Timothy Christian, in Piscataway, at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

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