The victory over the visiting Patriots and new coach Gerard Ciarleglio kept LIC undefeated in PSAL Queens ‘A’ West and snapped Francis Lewis’ six-game winning streak in the division.
After losing in the finals of the PSAL ‘A’ title game last season, the Bull-Dogs (15-1), who lost the high-scoring Aaron Williams but have four other starters back, look poised for another deep playoff run. Kevin Green Jr. led the Bull-Dogs with 24 points on Wednesday, while Jones had 14 and Dairoby Taveras added 10.
“This was the first big test for us,” said Long Island City coach Harley Watstein, whose team’s only loss came on his birthday back on Nov. 28, in a non-league game against Mott Haven. “They took the lead in the fourth quarter and we had to bounce back. I thought we played really well defensively. Our guys responded.”
Francis Lewis trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter but cut the lead to one, 44-43, on three straight three-pointers, one from Terrin Roland and two from Kalyn Credle (14 points), with 54 seconds left in the third.
The Patriots (6-4) then took their first lead since the opening quarter, 47-46, when Russell Jenkins’ soft jumper in the lane fell through just 17 seconds into the fourth.
Ciarleglio, in just his fifth game since taking over for Perry Dortch, who stepped down for personal reasons, was on the verge of getting his first big win.
“We were able to hit a bunch of threes to get back into the game,” he said.
But it was not to be. The response from Long Island City was swift. The Bull-Dogs ran off 11 straight points on baskets from Taveras, Arthur Santana, Green and Jones, who had a layup and a three-pointer, to regain the edge, 57-47, with 4:28 left.
Francis Lewis didn’t score for more than five minutes against the Bull-Dogs’ 2-3 zone.
“We kept our composure,” Jones said. “We didn’t get tight. We believed in ourselves. We did what we had to do to win the game.”
