Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Hubbard guard Kenyen Franklin drives past the Springfield’s Cash Richardson in the tough 52-48 Eagle victory.

NEW MIDDLETOWN – The Hubbard Eagles boys basketball team was coming off of two consecutive losses last week. The Springfield Tigers, conversely, were coming off of two big victories. But it was the Eagles who escaped with a hard-fought 52-48 victory on the Tigers’ home court Wednesday night in nonconference action.

“This win means a lot,” Eagles head coach Ryan Fitch said. “They are a quality team. They are very well coached, one of the best around. We had lost two in a row coming into this game playing two tough teams in Struthers and South Range. We talked about how good teams find a way to not let it spiral. The kids dug in deep, made some free throws and came out on top. It was huge for us.”

The Eagles never led by more than eight points and saw the game knotted at 46-46 with just 46 seconds remaining before a couple of clutch free throws and sound defense helped secure the win.

With just 24 seconds remaining and the Eagles leading 48-47, the Tigers’ Dylan Sheely threw up a three from the top of the key. The ball bounced off the side of the rim with the Eagles’ Javon Green grabbing the rebound. A technical foul was called, providing Green with the opportunity to connect on both charity throws to boost the Eagles to a 3-point, 50-47 advantage.

The two teams would then trade hitting one of two free throws in the final 20 seconds to reach the four-point final margin.

“It was definitely a tough game,” Green said. “Gavin had a big one at halftime which kind of pushed the momentum, and everybody hit their free throws. I was a little nervous, but we do a lot of free throws at practice. So, I was confident.”

The victory improves the Eagles to 4-3 overall on the season. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 5-2 on the year.

“We knew this was going to be a tough one,” Tigers head coach Jeff Brink said. “When you are playing a Division II school, any time you go up two divisions, that is a big jump for a D4. And they are a good team. They have a veteran group, so we knew it would be a challenge.”

However, it was the Tigers who jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before the Eagles settled into the game. The Eagles would close the first quarter with a 10-2 run to capture a 10-7 lead at the close of the frame.

Following a basket by the Tigers’ Carson Cunningham at the 2:53 mark of the second quarter, they had tied the contest at 17-17. But the Eagles closed the frame with a 3-0 run to hold a 20-17 advantage at the intermission.

Hubbard raced out of the gates to start the second half with a 5-2 run to hold a six-point, 25-19 lead at the 5:42 mark following a bucket by Green. By the time the Eagles’ Gavin Rybicki converted a layup at the 3:48 mark of the period, the Eagles held a game-high eight-point advantage at 30-22. But the Tiger responded with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit down to 30-28 by the 2:29 mark of the stanza. The Eagles would go on to hold a 37-31 lead at the close of the third quarter.

“We knew that they were going to make runs. I told our guys not to expect them to lie down. Yesterday in practice I tried to emphasize to our guys that this team plays as hard as any team that I have seen play,” Fitch said of the Tigers. “We wanted to make sure that we matched that intensity.”

The fourth quarter saw the two teams make runs back and forth, although the Tigers never were able to take the lead in the game. Following a three by the Tigers Cunningham at the 2:14 mark, the contest was deadlocked at 41-41. They would tie the game back up at 43-43 just over a minute later when Sean Guerriero knocked down two free throws, and they tied the contest one last time with just 46 seconds remaining when Sheely hit a three from the top of the key.

“We missed that last shot, and it put us in the position where we had to foul,” Brink said. “Obviously, it was unfortunate that we had the technical foul called because that put us in a very difficult position.”

The Eagles will look to bounce back when they travel to Western Reserve in a girls/boys doubleheader on Friday. The Tigers will also be back in action Friday night when they travel to neighboring foe East Palestine in another nonconference contest.

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