Photo Credit: Dave Stoft

Senior Max Culhane lays it up as the Sixth Man watches with anticipation.

The Bears challenged South San Francisco High last Friday and emerged with a narrow league win, in a fierce game ultimately won at the free throw line.

The game started off close, but M-A was able to maintain a narrow lead over the visiting Warriors throughout the first quarter with the help of several key rebounds from senior Dominic Tully.  The Bears had a comfortable six-point lead at half time, but the Warriors went on a run after switching to fullcourt pressure defense to pull ahead from during the third quarter. The back-and-forth play in the first three quarters, however, was overshadowed by an exciting fourth quarter that went into overtime.

Starting the fourth quarter, South San Francisco enjoyed a five-point lead. But as the quarter progressed, so did the fouls on both sides, with South SF giving away several opportunities to senior Ian Proulx, who was fouled multiple times and made all his free throws. Picking up the offense, senior Miles Weiss shot a fiery three-pointer, cutting San Francisco’s lead to just one point. It was apparent that the game was going to be a close one.

With two minutes left in the game, Weiss came out with a rebound that he handed off to Proulx, who drew another foul and sunk both his shots. M-A took the lead by one point.

South SF refused to let up in the last minute and scored a three-pointer for their own two-point lead. But with 11 seconds left in the game and the crowd all riled-up, the Warriors fouled Weiss, sending him to the line. Under heavy pressure, he made both of his free throws – enough to tie up the game and take it into overtime.

The four-minute overtime started out in M-A’s favor, with San Francisco’s rough play giving M-A multiple points off free throws alone. After fouls on both sides, however, the game stood at a tie.

Sophomore Royce Branning got the crowd going crazy when he pulled up in the lane, scored, and drew a foul, but missed the free-throw, making the score 62-60 for M-A. With just a minute and thirty seconds left in the game, senior Steven Perez converted a layup of his own and drew a foul. He missed his free throw, but senior Webb Henninger corralled the miss with a great rebound and putback, bringing the score to 66-63.

Shots went back and forth for both teams, bringing the score to 68-67, barely in M-A’s favor. After two free throws courtesy of Proulx, M-A took a slightly more comfortable lead of 70-67. But the Bears couldn’t relax just yet; with just seven seconds left in the game, the Warriors scored, cutting the deficit to one.

Earlier in the game, South SF’s aggressive style had generated a number of baskets and defensive stops, but their ferocity killed them in the end. Dirty play gave Proulx two vital free throws, which the standout player, who finished the game with 24 points, swished through the net to win the game 72-69. The supporters erupted in cheers as the Bears celebrated a gratifying league win that was all the more exciting for its closeness.