Basketball Ends Season in FAA Semifinals

In an FAA Semifinal on Thursday, top-seeded St. Luke’s beat fourth-seeded Brunswick by a 72-63 margin. The playoff road loss caps the season for the Bruins (6-16), while St. Luke’s advances to the FAA Championship on Saturday, February 23.

 

The Bruins fell behind 6-0 in the opening minutes of the game and later trailed St. Luke’s 15-7 at the 11:41 mark.

 

Following a Brunswick timeout, the Bruins went on a 14-6 run to tie the game at 21-21 with 7:37 remaining. Chisom Okpara capped the run on a traditional three-point play, as Tristan Joseph added five points during the scoring spurt.

 

St. Luke’s went on a 10-2 run, before the Bruins countered with a pair of buckets, setting the score at 31-27 with under 4:00 left in the half. The hosts closed out the first half with a 13-6 scoring streak, taking a double-digit lead into the break, 44-33.

 

In the second half, St. Luke’s went on a 15-7 run to open the frame, extending its lead to 59-40 with close to 10:00 remaining.

 

The Bruins answered with an 11-2 burst, trimming the deficit to 10 points, 61-51, with over five minutes left to play. Colin Mulshine, Okpara and Cedric Lafleur each sank three-pointers during the run.

 

However, Brunswick could not break through the double-digit deficit down the stretch, until Lafleur netted a last-second lay-up for the 72-63 final.

 

Okpara led the Bruins with 27 points, as Mulshine added 16. Joseph followed with nine points and Lafleur chipped in seven, as Kevonne Wilder and Henry Caponiti each score two points apiece to complete the Brunswick scoring.