Following their big-time win over the California Math and Science Academy (CAMS) on Tuesday, January 16th, the Bruins were seeking a big-time win over a struggling Lennox Academy group. The Panthers, who were entering the Friday night primetime matchup against the Bruins dead last in the Coastal League at 0-8, found themselves shorthanded with only seven of their thirteen players registering as eligible for the contest. On the other side, Geffen Academy was sporting nearly their entire roster, save for veteran guard Nick Hunter.
Both the Bruins and the Panthers had issues taking care of the basketball following the tip-off, with an abundance of turnovers leading to buckets for both teams. Additionally, Bruins' star point guard Nathan Muhumuza struggled to finish at the rim, effortlessly carving his way to the cup but leaving a profusion of layups on the iron. However, in his second game back after being reinstated, crafty Geffen Academy small forward Jordy Ohebsion notched seven points and four rebounds in the opening minutes. The Bruins, who were kept afloat by Ohebsion's buckets, found themselves knotted in a football score of 14-14 at the end of the first period.
The Panthers relied on juniors Andrew Anderson and Mike Cruz throughout the match, as Lennox Academy lacked offensive firepower from most of their players. However, Anderson and Cruz were both terrific from behind the arc, knocking down a boatload of extremely challenging triples. Anderson even nailed a high-arching three-pointer late in the fourth from what would be an NBA three-point line, while simultaneously being hounded by multiple Geffen Academy defenders. For the Bruins, they did it by committee, as Muhumuza, Stevan Markovic, and Jonathan Katz all scored eleven points. Those three have been the Bruins' best players all year, and tonight was no different. Muhumuza also contributed twelve assists, many of which proved to be paramount in keeping the Bruins in the game down the stretch. Markovic, who struggled shooting throughout the game, knocked down two huge threes on plays drawn up by interim head coach Mischa Reiss. But by far the biggest shot was from Katz, who nailed a left-corner trey with just under a minute remaining to put Geffen Academy up 53-50. Despite head coach Devon McNairy's qualms on the sideline against Katz's late-game jumper, the Hebrew Hammer calmly drilled the jumper and skipped back on the defensive end to string music. After a critical Muhumuza steal and layup, the Bruins easily played keep-away and ran out the dwindling seconds.
Despite the win, the Bruins yet again managed to play down to their competition. The win will look nice on their schedule and in their conference play record, but Geffen Academy is running out of time to get things right if they want to compete for a southern section championship. Needing to win nearly all of their remaining games, the Bruins' face a tall task ahead of them in the upcoming days.
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