LAKE HUNTINGTON — In a tightly-contested league matchup on Monday, January 29, the Sullivan West Bulldogs took the Chester Hambletons to the brink on their home floor. The game was an important one for Sullivan West’s playoff hopes, but they would ultimately fall, 78-73, in an overtime thriller. The loss dropped the Bulldogs’ record to 4-8 overall and 2-5 in Section 9 Class C. 

However, the Bulldogs had a complete game on both sides of the ball, which is something Sullivan West Coach Ronj Padu was looking for from his team after their loss to Chapel Field last Friday.

“We did have [a complete game on both sides of the ball],” Padu said. “We were preaching that this whole time. They came out and they showed up. Not the result that we wanted in the end, but they fought hard so I’m proud of that.”

Chester sprinted out to a big 24-12 lead after one quarter and at that point, it seemed that the Hambletons would run away with the game. But the Bulldogs came storming back and, fueled by an impressive three-point game, took a 37-35 lead going into the locker room. 

After making three shots from behind the arc in the first quarter - one from Matt DuBois and two from Jacob Hubert - Sullivan West shot the lights out with six three-pointers in the second quarter, with Evan Ebert, DuBois and Hubert each making two triples in that quarter. 

The third quarter saw several lead changes and Sullivan West wound up in front, 54-51, going into the final quarter of regulation. Austin Nystrom led the Bulldogs’ scorers with six of his seven points in the third quarter. 

Sullivan West took a timeout with 5:33 remaining in the game, still holding onto a slim 59-56 lead. Chester wound up tying it at 61-all with 2:23 left before Allyn Walter took the lead back for the Bulldogs with 2:06 to go. An offensive foul on Chester with 27.5 seconds remaining gave the ball back to Sullivan West as they held a 63-61 lead. Hubert was fouled with 25 seconds left and made both free throws. 

The Hambletons turned the ball back over to the Bulldogs with 20 seconds left and immediately fouled Hubert again, who made one of two free throws. Chester drove down the court and Andre Jenkins found the bottom of the net to make it 66-63 with 11.5 seconds remaining. 

Walter took the inbound and was fouled with 10 seconds to go and only needed to make one free throw to put the game away. However, he missed both and set up Chester’s Jayden Mercado to hit a game-tying three-pointer with just over a second left in regulation, despite DuBois’ best effort to block the shot. 

When asked what was going through his mind when the shot landed, Coach Padu said, “Here we go, here we go.”

“But that’s where stars are made - in those times,” he said. “So they had to buckle down and get it done, which they didn’t. But it’s a learning experience, so they’ll have that for next time.”

The Bulldogs heaved a full-court prayer that fell short as the Chester fans and players celebrated forcing overtime. Mercado hit another three to give the Hambletons a 69-66 lead to begin the extra period. DuBois once again found the bottom of the net from deep to tie the game at 69 all, before Mercado made two from the charity stripe. 

Walter was fouled on the ensuing possession but made one of two free throws, and Chester would score seven unanswered points for the 78-70 lead. DuBois hit a three at the buzzer for his second of overtime and fifth of the game, as Sullivan West fell short, 78-73. 

“This comes down to the little things,” Coach Padu said. “Gotta hand it to Chester, they did all the little things right at the end and they got the win. They’re a good team.”

DuBois was tied for the leading scorer in the game with Chester’s Jenkins, who both scored 23 points. Ebert and Hubert each scored 17 points while Nystrom and Walter each scored seven.