Bruins Capture FAA Basketball Title

Brunswick beat Greenwich Country Day, 62-41, on Saturday evening to capture its first FAA title since 2010, finishing the year 19-5 overall and 15-0 in league play.  

It was perhaps the Bruins' most complete game of the season, controlling the action by suffocating the Tigers with defensive pressure and executing with precision on offense for the entire night.

Brunswick jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead after Malik Samms scored the first two buckets of the game, Wyatt Triestman and Ethan Long capitalized on opportunities from the charity stripe, and Jon Sigurdsson finished a pretty up-and-under layup. The Bruins would lead by as many as 12 in the first half and eventually took a 27-17 lead into the break.

Brunswick often emphasizes that its play in the first four minutes of the second half will dictate the direction the game goes the rest of the way and that was certainly the case in this contest. Senior tri-captains Triestman, Sigurdsson, and Samms all scored one basket apiece while their team defense remained strong, ballooning Brunswick's lead to 16 with just over 13 minutes to play.

From that point on, Brunswick began to bleed the clock with long possessions, capitalizing on high-percentage looks, while their defense continually forced GCDS into tough shots. As the Bruins refused to relinquish their lead, each passing minute felt like a formality.

The second half was highlighted by a Samms alley-oop pass to Will Graves and a Long fast-break dunk off of a Triestman inbounds pass that traveled three quarters of the way down the court, each of which ignited the capacity crowd.

Holding an 18-point lead with 1:20 remaining, Brunswick emptied its bench, and the celebration was on.

It was a special night for Brunswick basketball and an atmosphere unlike any Dann Gym has ever seen previously. Triestman and Long led the Bruins with 16 points each, while the entire team's defensive performance, especially that of Luke Michalik and Samms, was the key to victory.

Brunswick has remained on the bubble for much of the last two months and will now await word on a potential spot in next week's NEPSAC playoffs.