Memphis Yeshiva Invitational

10-27-2012 | SAR Sting Buzz past Cooper Macs, 26-22

10-27-2012 | SAR Sting Buzz past Cooper Macs, 26-22

By: Yonatan Cooper

The Tier I consolation games got off to a bang Saturday night, featuring the evenly matched SAR Sting and the hometown Cooper Macs. After a subpar performance against Magen David, Eli Osdoba looked to earn his mojo back with a strong first quarter. SAR’s big men were able to contain Osdoba’s penetration well and held him scoreless after one. SAR led by a score of 9-7 after one quarter.

At halftime, Osdoba was still being held scoreless by the Sting. Macs junior center Bryan Itkowitz was able to pick up for Osdoba’s s lack scoring by scoring 10 of Cooper’s 12 first half points, and also blocking three shots on the defensive end. Cooper had a strong defensive performance and held SAR to a mere 2 second quarter points. At the half, Cooper led by a score of 12-11.

In the third quarter, Itkowitz continued his dominance, scoring all four of his team’s points. But SAR was able to capitalize on some key offensive rebounds and convert them into buckets. At the end of the third quarter, SAR led 17-16.

Early in the fourth quarter, Itkowitz continued his Eli Osdobaesque performance. He scored four points and blocked three shots, but picked up three crucial fouls. With just under 3 minutes to go, Eli Osdoba picked up his first two points on two crucial free throws and tied the game up at 22. On the subsequent play, SAR guard Daniel Oppenheimer hit a huge layup to put his team up 24-22 with just over a minute left. With just 15 seconds to go, Eli Osdoba’s baseline jumper missed and went out of bounds. With 8 seconds left, Daniel Oppenheimer hit two clutch game sealing free throws, and SAR won by a score of 26-22. David Apfelbaum led the Sting with 7 points and the Macs had a monster game from Brian Itkowitz with 18 points.

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