It’d be a hard bet to find somewhere louder than the Lynn Tech gymnasium on Friday night.
With the home faithful on its feet and the Tigers’ mascot roaming his jungle, the boys basketball team (11-2) defeated Essex Tech in overtime 76-69 to become the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small champions.
Better yet, the Tigers knocked off the defending champs.
“This is just an unreal feeling,” Lynn Tech head coach Corey Bingham said. “They’ve been the top guys of the hill, so it’s time for a little takeover now.”
Knotted at 63 apiece heading into overtime, the Tigers wasted no time. Freshman Andy Batista scored a running floater off one leg to break the ice, followed by fellow freshman Giovanni Jean finding junior Ederick Gonzalez for a layup to put Tech up 67-63.
From there, Lynn Tech’s defense smothered the Hawks’ ball-carriers. And since day one this season, Bingham said his team is all about defense.
“That’s my calling card. Honestly, as a coach, I don’t care about anything [other than defense], Bingham said. “You’ve got to play defense to win championships.”
Leading 71-67, the Tigers connected on five straight free throws to escape with the victory. Gonzalez finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Batista followed with 19 points. Jean scored 15 points alongside five assists.
“You’ve got to have good players,” Bingham said. As a coach, you’ve got to put them in good positions, but we’ve got big-time players.”
Big-time indeed. Essex Tech head coach Juan Juan said “I don’t want to play those guys for the next three years” as Jean and Batista – among others – are all freshmen. Juan also admired the Tigers for their effort and energy.
“From an effort-standpoint, they played their tails off,” Juan said.
Rewinding to the third quarter, Gonzalez went coast-to-coast at full speed before finding Batista for an and-one. Not only did it put Lynn Tech ahead 40-34, but the gym didn’t stop buzzing for several minutes as a reaction to the highlight-reel play.
“It was just a team effort – everyone gave their all,” Bingham said. “You can see the hunger of the kids – they don’t give up.”
Jaws dropped when Essex Tech’s Shawn O’Keefe (26 points, 15 rebounds) buried a shot from the opposite three-point line, but unfortunately for the Hawks, it just barely lost the battle to the buzzer. Lucky, for his own sanity, O’Keefe scored on the first play of the fourth.
In the final frame, Lynn Tech’s Brandon Antwine hit a corner three to put his team up 60-52 with four minutes left – all to a giant roar from the Tigers’ crowd.
“They were all about this environment tonight,” Juan said.
The Hawks tied the game with seconds remaining as Christian Federico connected on a clutch three, but from that point on, it was all Lynn Tech.
“We struggled down the stretch,” Juan said. “Corey’s doing a great job – that’s a great program.”
“I can’t be prouder,” Bingham said.
