After going toe-to-toe with an amped up Bethpage team playing in front of an amped up crowd, the Hewlett Bulldogs couldn't find the twine on Friday night in the second half and dropped a 41-32 decision to the Golden Eagles at Bethpage High School.
Bethpage was led by Greg Gerber. Spurred on by supportive chants of "He's a freshman!," Gerber hit for 15 points, including a 5-6 clutch foul shooting performance in the final 90 seconds to seal the win.
"Had to come out and win this game," Gerber said. "We're trying to get a playoff spot. Foul shots win games."
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Hewlett, which only scored 14 points in the second half, got six points each from Avery Feldman, Jake Lundenberg and Eddie Gruzman. Decent shooting allowed the Bulldogs to set up their active pressure defense in the first half, creating multiple turnovers and easy baskets that kept the game close.
But when Gerber hit back-to-back jump shots at the end of the third quarter to push the lead to 28-23, the Bulldogs stopped playing inside-out and started missing from the perimeter.
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Sophomore guard Harrison Brenner hit a breakaway layup to cut the lead to one at 30-29 with 3:51 to play, but Bethpage's Mohid Farhadi (16 points) immediately responded with a 3-pointer from the wing to push the lead back to 33-29. Bethpage sealed the game with free throws from there.
Head Coach Bill Dubin lamented his team's failure to execute down the stretch.
"We were prepared," Dubin said. "We just didn't hit our shots and we didn't get the ball inside enough."
While the Golden Eagles shot 10 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, the Bulldogs only shot four free throws the entire contest. Once again, Dubin saw this as a failure to put practice into effect when the whistle blows.
"Did we even shoot any foul shots?," Dubin asked. "Can't win a game shooting only four free throws. That's what happens when you don't get the ball inside and ball fake like we worked on all week in practice. We certainly are better than that."
With this loss, Hewlett drops to 3- 7 in league play. Bethpage improved to 3-6 with the win. The Bulldogs will host Plainedge on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
