Raiders hold off Tigers’ rally in 4th

February 2, 2019 at 12:09a.m.

Harding wins on road

to earn split of series

between Bubon Bros.

By BOB ETTINGER

HOWLAND

Warren Harding coach Gabe Bubon was on edge all day leading up to the Raiders’ rematch with rival Howland. Turns out, he had every reason to feel that way as the Raiders escaped with a 65-63 victory Friday night, avenging an earlier loss to the Tigers.

“I’m glad we came out and played hard from the get-go,” Bubon said. “We took a little different approach [than the last time we played them]. Give my brother [Howland coach Dan Bubon] credit, he gets those guys playing hard. I told our guys if they aren’t playing angry, they aren’t playing. I didn’t quite realize how big (the game) was.

“My brother and I have a crazy rivalry. He won by two. I won by two. Up by 10 with a few minutes left, it just seemed like something crazy was going to happen. I just wanted the win. Now, I don’t want to hear about Bubon vs. Bubon until next year. They just wouldn’t go away.”

Harding (10-8, 6-2 in All-American Conference Red Tier) led 60-48 following a 3-pointer from Dom McGhee with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, but had to hold off the hard-charging Tigers (6-11, 2-6) in the waning seconds.

“After Tuesday [a 40-point loss to Boardman], I didn’t know what was going to happen tonight,” Dan Bubon said. “This needs to be a rivalry. The last three times we’ve played them, they were two-point games. The biggest thing that makes me happy is the first time I coached against them in this rivalry, nobody came. Tonight, we had a great crowd. I can’t be more proud of my guys. Down 12, having to press, that should be good for [Harding]. But we executed well and made some good plays.”

The Tigers cut the deficit in half, 60-54 with 3:39 left behind two buckets from Cam During and another from Joey Vitali. Two free throws from Jordan Sperling and a three-point play from Vitali had Howland within one, 64-63, with 23 seconds on the clock.

The Raiders used a free throw from D’Muntize Owens to make it 65-63 with 21 seconds to go. The Tigers were unable to put up a shot for the tie or win.

“We didn’t make the best decisions at the end of the game,” Gabe Bubon said. “We had a couple of errant passes — a couple of errant shots, really. If we’d have taken some time, they’d have had to foul. With a crowd like that, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. We almost gave it away. I was ready to pass out. At the end of the day, we got the win.”

Tye Pennington connected on four triples and Owens added two more in the second period as the Raiders pulled out to a 38-31 at the intermission.

“[Coach] just told us to play harder, stronger,” Pennington said. “We had to take it more personal. We had to come back with the win. I just want to say thank you to [assistant coach Marc] Morgan. He woke up at seven in the morning to help me get my shot right.”

Owens paced the Raiders with 19 points, McGhee had 14, Pennington 12 and Aston Bates chipped in with 10. Jabari Felton had 18 rebounds.

“That’s pride,” Gabe Bubon said. “That’s pride, heart and desire. I’d run through a wall for that guy. And he’d run through a wall for me.”

Frankie Manios led the Tigers with 17 points, Vitali had 13 and Barrett added 12.