Boys hoop: Beverly forces overtime, then beats Swampscott

With two minutes left in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Swampscott had a 59-52 lead over Beverly. But the Panthers, winners of six in a row coming in, proceeded to go on an 18-4 run over the end of regulation and into overtime to take a 70-63 win on home soil.”It was a nice win,” Beverly coach Scott Lewis said. “We had some big plays down the stretch.”Matt Tobin was a force for the Panthers (9-4, 8-3 Northeastern Conference), finishing with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Matt McQuaid was immense as well, recording 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to go along with 10 rebounds.Nate Knudson added 10 points while Mike Clayton and Curtis Manuel had five steals each. Swampscott (9-5) got 24 points from Ryan Squires, 15 from Scott Leffler and 14 from John Beaulieu.The Big Blue led 28-27 at the half and 49-43 heading to the fourth quarter.Tech 51, Shawsheen 49At Lynn, the youthful Tigers (8-5, 7-2 Commonwealth Conference) got two free throws from Felix Rios with 17 seconds left to take the lead and then held off a last second shot from the Rams to move into first place in the CAC.”This is the best win we’ve had all year long,” Tech coach Marvin Avery said. “I was very impressed with this win. We got a great effort on both sides of the ball.”Victor Smith paced the Tech offense with 19 points while Rios finished with nine. The Tigers led 31-27 at the half and 44-43 at the start of the third quarter.English 71, Danvers 35At English, the Bulldogs (12-2) were never in serious jeopardy as 10 different players found their way onto the scoresheet.Ryan Woumn led English with 13 points whule Jeremy Jackley had 12.No. Camb. Cath. 70, St. Mary’s 65At Cambridge, the Spartans (7-6) found themselves in a 61-61 tie with a little over 3:00 remaining but couldn’t quite pull out the victory.Tyler Grillo led St. Mary’s with 17 points.Winthrop 66, Peabody 52At Peabody, the Vikings (9-3, 8-3 NEC) outscored Peabody (7-8, 5-6) 38-26 after the half to break open what had been an entertaining affair in the opening 16 minutes.Jonathan Murdock had 24 points and 13 rebounds despite being in foul trouble to lead Winthrop. Dino Mallios chipped in with 16.Kevin Skop led the Tanners with 17 points while Dan Mello had 15 points and seven assists. Mark Linehan added 12 for Peabody.Fenwick 75, Northeast 47At Peabody, the Crusaders (6-7) had this one well in hand from the start, leading 23-7 after one and 38-19 at the half.Mike Clifford had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Fenwick offense. Nolan DiPanfilo had 15 points while Phil Eagan had 12 and Trevor Grace added 11.Salem 87, Saugus 47At Salem, the Witches (8-4, 7-4 NEC) tuned up for Friday’s showdown with English by dominating from start-to-finish on Tuesday.Junior Lugo’s 23 points led a Salem offense that ran out to a 44-17 halftime lead. Antonio Reyes had 13 points while Chris Dunston had 11 and Chris Maxson, 10.Dan Internicola and Tim Fontaine had 11 points each for the Sachems.St. John’s 98, Cath. Mem. 93At Danvers, defense definitely wasn’t on the agenda as both teams burned up the hardwood at Memorial Gymnasium.Ryan O’Connell was especially hot, pouring in a season high 41 points which included seven 3-pointers and saw him score 11 of the Prep’s last 16 points against one of the top Division 1 teams in the state.The Eagles (6-5) trailed 69-65 heading to the fourth quarter, but outscored CM 33-24 in the final minutes to take the win.”It was like the shootout at the OK Corral,” Prep coach Dan LeTarte said. “It was a great team effort.”Freshman Patrick Connaughton had 18 points and Brendon Felder added 16 to the Prep’s Cause.