Somers’ late surge crushes John Jay's comeback bid

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - Last year, John Jay swept Somers in the regular season, and the Tuskers were clearly looking for revenge. An 18-point third-quarter lead made that obvious. Still, the Wolves cut the deficit to eight in the closing moments of the quarter, but the Tuskers dug in and refused to leave without stomping out the home team.

A couple of clutch plays to close the quarter proved too much, and John Jay couldn’t recover in a 74–59 loss.

John Jay did strike first. Off Marc Fein’s miss at the foul line, Alex Palacio scored on a put-back to give his team a 3–0 lead.

From there, the teams traded punches for the next few minutes. Nico Quinones got Somers on the board with a corner jumper, and Ben O’Brien followed with a three to give the Tuskers the lead.

Up for the challenge, Nate Summer answered from downtown to put John Jay back on top. It would be their last lead. Arman Rao quickly reclaimed momentum with his second consecutive three for Somers.

Then the Tuskers began to assert their size. Matt Denker powered inside and finished at the rim.

Down 10–6, John Jay at least held firm for the moment. Palacio responded in the paint to keep the margin at two.

Next, Summer made his presence felt on defense. He met O’Brien at the rim and blocked his interior move with 2:07 left in the first.

But Somers had too much size for John Jay to contain. Denker made another strong move and added two more at the line for a 12–8 lead.

Even so, Summer wasn’t deterred. After a missed free throw, he pulled down the rebound and converted an acrobatic put-back to get the Wolves back within two.

That was as close as they would get. Rao again set the tone, draining another three for a 15–10 advantage. Decker and Troy Rossi followed with interior scores to close the quarter at 19–10.

Seth Denker opened the second with a three, but Somers’ big men were unfazed. Decker answered with four points inside, then finished a fast-break put-back to stretch the lead to 27–13.

Fein momentarily stopped the bleeding with a short jumper, but Somers kept attacking. Their size again paid off as they built a 37–20 lead before two Braydon Gates free throws offered a brief pause.

O’Brien resumed the onslaught with two more inside buckets, and the interior domination carried right into the third. He went baseline early to open a 43–24 lead.

Looking dead in the water, John Jay finally responded. Fein muscled in a put-back, and after two Decker free throws, Patrick Ryan hit a pull-up jumper to keep things respectable at 46–30.

Still, Decker remained unstoppable. Twice he caught the ball in the low post and scored with ease, pushing the game to 50–32.

With 4:30 left in the third, John Jay made its best run. Ryan hit a short turnaround, and after a Somers turnover, Denker finished a three-point play on a strong drive.

The gym erupted moments later on a two-way sequence from Dion Prelvukaj. The junior grabbed a defensive board and then buried a three to make it a 10-point game.

But Somers’ depth and versatility took over again. Leo Keimig drilled a three to extend the lead to 53–40, and after Summer added two baskets to pull within eight, Rossi made a key defensive play.

A steal and fast-break layup halted the Wolves’ momentum, and before John Jay could regroup, the Tuskers opened a 66–50 lead—one that ultimately told the final tale.