The Roslyn Bulldogs basketball season continues. Last Friday night, the Bulldogs traveled to Locust Valley to play in what amounted to a road game against Friends Academy at the Friends’ gym. And in a thrilling come-from-behind victory, the Bulldogs topped Friends, 54-52 to advance to the next round. This Friday, Feb. 20, Roslyn will once again hit the road, traveling to Roosevelt to take on number three-seeded Roosevelt High School in a 6 p.m. matchup.
The stunning win over Friends proved once again that Roslyn saves its most dramatic basketball for the postseason. Trailing 38-34 going into the final frame, the Bulldogs made a comeback, thanks to the clutch shooting of Keandre Augustine, who had 20 points for the game, including three three-point buckets.
With seconds remaining, Roslyn scored the winning basket on a pass from Noah Nardone to Marc Shulman. The big center laid the ball in and Roslyn had their hard-fought win.
The Roslyn scoring attack was balanced as usual. Coach Craig Murphy only went with six players for the entire game, with Omar Burns as the only substitute off the bench. Nardone and Shulman had eight points each, while another senior, Thomas Davis, had seven points. Matt Kramer chipped in with six points and Burns had five points. Nardone, Davis and Kramer each had three-point shots to assist Augustine in that key category.
In the regular season, Roslyn went 6-3 in Conference A-III action and 12-5 overall, good enough for third place behind Glen Cove and Hewlett. However, in the byzantine world of Nassau County basketball playoffs, Roslyn was placed in the Class A division, where they have been ranked number 11 overall. And so, the victory over Friends was an upset. This Friday, the Bulldogs will, as noted, battle the number three seed. And despite having a solid winning record in both conference play and overall, the Bulldogs have yet to play a postseason game in front of the hometown crowd.
Either way, the Bulldogs will battle on. The win over Friends was a see-saw affair, with the home team jumping out to a 11-8 first quarter lead, only to see Roslyn battle back and outscore Friends, 11-9, in the second frame. Friends, in turn, outscored Roslyn in the third quarter, setting the stage for the comeback.
The Bulldogs were the underdogs in the Friends game and will be so against Roosevelt, but the team has played winning basketball all year and is worthy of all the fan support it can get even on frigid nights.
