BERLIN – The Bristol Eastern boys basketball team could not hold off Berlin on Monday night, falling by a 56-55 final from Berlin High School.
The Lancers (8-3 overall) had a double-figure lead throughout the first half and into the third quarter play as Eastern’s defense made several stops.
“I thought we did a good job taking away their offense” in the first half Eastern coach Bunty Ray said. “We were scoring. We were playing great basketball for a half. But there’s two halves in basketball, unfortunately.”
Leading 21-5 after one period, the Lancers carried a 36-23 edge into the break but were outscored 18-11 in the third quarter, clinging to a 47-41 advantage through three.
Eastern lost one of their key members in the second half when Brayden Dauphinais sustained a thumb injury and was unable to return to the game.
Berlin led for the first time off a huge 3-pointer by River Eberhardt (game-high 26 points), giving the Redcoats a 56-53 lead with 32 seconds to play in regulation.
Lukas Sward (14 points) answered with two free throws, cutting the deficit to 56-55 with 9.0 seconds remaining.
Eastern eventually fouled Toby Lavender who missed both his free throw attempts and with 6.8 seconds to go, the Lancers had the ball and a chance to win it late.
But the final attempt didn’t connect at the buzzer as Berlin defeated Eastern by a single point.
Eastern is home this Thursday night against Hartford Public (6:45 p.m.).
Berlin 56 Bristol Eastern 55
BRISTOL EASTERN (8-3): Naseem Walker 1 2 5, Brayden Dauphinais 2 0 5, Jordan Chisholm 4 0 11, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 0 0 0, Zaveyn Tate 5 0 10, Lukas Sward 6 2 14, Brady Bell 4 0 8, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Ben D’Amato 1 0 2. Totals: 23 4 55.
BERLIN (7-4): Jon Morales 2 0 4, Toby Lavender 4 3 14, River Eberhardt 9 3 26, Braeden Harris 5 2 12, Kyle Melville 0 0 0, Cyrus Revenaugh 0 0 0, Michael Fitzsimmons 0 0 0, Cam Guzze 0 0 0, Totals: 20 8 56.
Bristol Eastern: 21 15 11 8 – – – – 55
Berlin: 5 18 18 15 – – – – 56