Like the New England Patriots, the Schenectady Christian boys basketball team’s bid for a perfect season ended last weekend.
Unlike the Patriots, the Falcons still have a chance to redeem themselves. Several chances, in fact.
Berne-Knox-Westerlo handed Schenectady Christian its first loss of the season Saturday with a come-from-behind 61-56 victory at Scotia-Glenville High School. The Bulldogs (10-1 league, 13-4 overall) went on a 10-3 run late in the fourth quarter to pull into a tie with the Falcons (10-1, 15-1) for first place in the WAC Southern Division.
We wanted to split the championship, and the only way we were going to do that was to win here, said BKW coach Andy Wright.
`You can’t play well every game, and you can’t win every game,` said Schenectady Christian coach Chad Bowman. `I certainly believe in my guys, but there are going to be those nights. Now, we’re going to find out what we’re made of.`
The Falcons built leads of 12-3 and 19-10 in the first half, but the Bulldogs steadily chipped away at the deficit. By halftime, BKW was within two points at 25-23.
The Bulldogs tied the game for the first time early in the third quarter on Ben Burton’s three-pointer, but Kelsey Collins hit a three of his own, and Jake Bowman added a jump shot to give Schenectady Christian a 37-32 lead. BKW made another mini run to close the period down one point at 39-38.
Petar Serafimovski opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play to give Schenectady Christian a 42-38 lead, but Joey Conklin drove for a layup and Matt Lounsbury added a three-pointer to give BKW a 43-42 advantage. The lead changed hands several times before David Sikule hit a pair of free throws with less than two minutes left to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Conklin finished with 24 points, and Lounsbury chipped in 14 points for BKW.
Bowman had 21 points, and Serafimovski added 11 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter for the Falcons, who will play in this weekend’s WAC Tournament. “