Aces Top Bensalem, Advance to Fifth-Place Game

The four AAAA District 1 semifinalists squared off at Villanova University Tuesday night. The Aces, relegated to the consolation bracket after a loss at Neshaminy, played at Armstrong Middle School. To the victors go the spoils.

Lower Merion didn't let the venue soften their resolve though. Under peculiar overhead lighting that set the action in a near sepia tone, Lower Merion avenged its season opening 38-37 loss by topping Bensalem 45-44 to earn a place in the district's fifth-place game.

"We'd rather be playing at Villanova," said forward BJ Johnson, who contributed six points to the win, "but this feels good."

The game went down to the wire, again, for the Aces. With 20 seconds left and Lower Merion holding a 45-43 lead, Raheem Hall, who led Lower Merion with 11 points and was otherwise brilliant, missed an open layup to give the Owls an opportunity to take the lead or send the game to overtime.

After a timeout, Bensalem fed it down low to the Mohawked big man, Calvin Brown, where he was fouled with 3.77 seconds on the clock. Brown hit the first of his foul shots, but with an opportunity to even the score, missed his second to enable the Aces' revenge.

"This was definitely a big win. It was big to get back at them from that first game," said guard Mark Krantz, who played more minutes than usual in the stead of backcourt mate Matt McKenna, who was out with a rolled ankle. "It's a combination of pride and higher seeding (at states)."

For the recently high-flying Ace offense, it was the second-lowest winning scoring total of the season. Head coach Gregg Downer said that was not by design.

"We wanted a high-possession game," Downer said. "We thought the pace of that last game was to their liking."

Irrespective of pace, it looked from the beginning—more specifically when Bensalem's Chris McMullin caught an alley-oop and dunked it on the first possession of the game—like the Aces were physically a bit overmatched against the Owls.

"I thought this game would be won from 10 feet and in," Downer said. "At the top of the chalkboard was 'Win the paint.'"

The Aces didn't necessarily win the paint, but they at least played to a draw. They made their hay in other areas of the court.

Darius Hall hit a three pointer from the top of the key on the possession following the McMullin dunk, either providing evidence the Aces weren't rattled or himself unrattling them, and the Aces gave as good as they got from there.

After ending the first down 18-14, they unleashed a passing clinic.

Early in the second quarter, after losing his handle on a drive to the basket, Raheem Hall passed it to an open Mike Robbins just outside the three-point line. Robbins spotted up to shoot, but when he spied Eric Green come open in the post, he tossed it down low to him instead.

Green hit the layup and drew a foul, but missed the free throw, which was promptly rebounded by an Ace, then immediately kicked out to an open Krantz, who hit a three to give Lower Merion a 19-18 lead—10 seconds, five points, three brilliant passes.

In playoff basketball, it's those sequences that make all the difference.