The New Hyde Park Gladiators (1-8) varsity basketball team lost to the Roslyn Bulldogs (7-1), 63-50 on Friday evening at Roslyn High School.
Terrence Pierce, a guard for the Bulldogs, led his team to victory with 24 points on four three-pointers and five steals.
The Gladiators, winless in non-league play since their 44-36 victory over Plainedge, were up against a team with a very different record. The Bulldog’s only loss this season thus far is a tight 49-46 against Hempstead, otherwise outscoring all other opponents by margins of at least 10.
The first half produced even play from both teams, with the Bulldogs maintaining a four-point lead over New Hyde Park going into halftime.
Roslyn widened the gap to six points and extended it to 13 points.
Pierce’s three-point shots combined with a team total of 18 points in free throws were too much for the Gladiators.
“We came out real sluggish, we had to pick it up…mainly our defense struggled and we should have gotten more rebounds,” Pierce said. “However, we still kept our heads up and got the win.”
Gladiators’ forward John Tomasini hit 10 free throws, and scored a team-high 16 points, followed by Eric Bialczak and Josh Lee with 10 points.
Daniel Lorandini had the only three pointer for the Gladiators.
Head coach Don Rood declined to comment on the game.
“We did some things better mentally, we kept the pressure on wore them down,” Bulldogs head coach Craig Murphy said.
Commenting on Pierce, Murphy said: “He is tenacious defensively, and creates a lot of uncertainty…and we he gets the ball, you have to respect him 22-25 feet away from the rim, and then he has an ability to get himself to the rack.”
Supporting Pierce in the Bulldog’s victory was Eric Kramer with 10 points, including a team high eight free throws, and four assists.
“We found a way to win, even with a tough first half,” Kramer said. “Fortunately we blew it open in the second, we had a good team win.”
Roslyn is the no. 1 seed in Nassau Conference A-1 and New Hyde Park is the no. 7 seed.
During half-time, the crowd was treated to a Roslyn Booster Basketball Youth League game, featuring fourth grade students from Harbor Hill and East Hills Elementary Schools.
