Generation 53, Huarache 59

Even a late-game appearance from Generation’s Superman couldn’t help save the day against Uptown Conference rival Huarache, who booked their tickets to Madison Square Garden and the NRF Final with a 59-53 in Wednesday night’s semifinal match-up. Playing without one of their top players, forward LeKeith Taylor, Huarache used a 39-19 advantage on the glass to eke out a victory after blowing a 21-point second half lead.

The first half of the match-up was a back-and-forth affair. An early Huarache technical failed to give either team a momentum boost, but Huarache forward Roscoe made his presence known with 10 first half points. Generation forward Tony Forte traded two acrobatic lay-ups in the paint with back-to-back strokes from Huarache guard Eric Raymundo late in the first half, and the first buzzer would hit with Huarache sporting a five-point lead.

Even though they looked shaky at times in the second half, Huarache’s 14-2 run out of the halftime gates proved too much to overcome. Generation, who began the game without center Dan Solomito, received a boost when their star big man entered the gym five minutes into the second half. With his team down by a 42-25 margin, Solomito reeled off 13 of his team’s next 17 points to cut the lead to seven points with 1:37 to play. Roscoe played the role of Kryptonite to Solomito’s Superman, and in this episode, he came out victorious. Roscoe finished with 13 points and 16 boards, including a Rajon Rondo-esque dive to the floor in the later stages of the second half that kept Huarache treading against a Generation onslaught.

Generation would fight valiantly until the very last whistle, however, including a three-point play by Solomito that cut the lead to two with less than a minute left. After Roscoe missed the front end of a one-and-one, Solomito took the ball up court only to dribble it off his own knee and watch it trickle out of bounds. Raymundo iced the game with six straight free throws, sending Huarache to victory.

Huarache was led by Roscoe, Raymundo (13 points) and guard Terance Takyi (eight points, six assists, seven rebounds). Generation was paced by Solomito (18 points), forward Forte (seven points, eight rebounds) and guard J.J. McGowan (14 points).

	1	2		T
Generation	23	30	-	53
Huarache	28	31	-	59

Box Scores

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