ELMHURST — There appeared to be a general sense of relief among Nazareth players and coaches as they finally secured their first win of the season by defeating Ridgewood 61-55 at the Jack Tosh Tournament in York.
“It felt really good,” Roadrunners freshman guard Josh Oglesby said. “We’ve been practicing really hard and really been working to get here.”
The Roadrunners turned the tables on the Rebels, who breezed to a 63-47 victory over Nazareth Dec. 7 at the Ridgewood Hoops Classic.
Nazareth’s first win, however, came with a fair amount of drama.
The Roadrunners (1-8) sprinted to a 32-16 halftime lead behind six points each from Oglesby and freshman point guard Kaleb Thornton. In the third quarter, however, the Rebels (6-4) fought back with aggressive play inside. They eventually tied it up at 40 early in the fourth.
“I thought in the first half we played good defense. We kept making them go to their left,” Roadrunners coach John Bonk said. “In the third quarter they went to their right and they drew four fouls. We got away from our game plan a bit in the third.”
In the fourth, the Roadrunners fought through foul trouble and returned to form. Junior guard Christian Davis and senior guard Jorge Palacios fueled an 18-2 run to help secure the victory.
Davis led the Roadrunners with 14 points, while Thornton and sophomore forward Ryan Felbinger added 11 each.
Nazareth will play Sandburg on Monday in the consolation quarterfinals.
Rebels sophomore forward Zach Rzewnicki scored all of his game-high 18 points in the second half. He also had 11 rebounds.