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Boys Basketball: Seton outlasts Brother Rice
Updated: January 27, 2012 9:47PM
Mark Weems Jr. was uncharacteristically quiet during the first three quarters of Seton’s 61-48 Catholic League South victory over host Brother Rice.
The Sting’s leading scorer had as many fouls as points — two.
Things would change.
“He’s a closer,” Seton coach Brandon Thomas said. “That guy scores in a lot of different ways. He can shoot the three, he can get to the cup and he can make free throws.”
Weems did it all, except for hitting a three, anyway, finishing with 16 fourth-quarter points as the Sting (16-3, 7-0) thwarted a stunning comeback by the Crusaders. J.R. Tolliver added another 18 markers for the winners.
Brother Rice (11-8, 5-2) was paced by Alex Majewski (18 points) and Ray Rubio (eight).
What looked like a cruise for Seton turned into a wild ride before all was said and done.
Brother Rice, which went into the night having made at least one three-pointer in 259 straight games, went 0-for-5 in the first half.
Seton, meanwhile, dominated in most phases, including the ridiculous.
With 0.4 left in the half, Damian Evans stood at the top of the three-point circle as Kamal Shasi tossed the inbounds pass. In one motion, Evans leaped, caressed the ball every so briefly, then launched what would be a swish.
Up 29-18 at halftime, Seton would go on to build a 38-21 advantage early in the third. Then, Brother Rice finally exploded.
A layup by Garrett O’Neill got it started. Rubio hit a three, the Crusaders’ first, with 3:30 showing. After Jim Barista connected from beyond the arc with 43.9 seconds left in the period, it was a 40-40 proposition.
“Our defense wasn’t there anymore,” Thomas said. “And we shot a lot of jump shots in that quarter. Tolliver, we were having success going to him, and all of a sudden we didn’t want to go to him anymore.”
They never did go to Tolliver again, but it didn’t matter. Trailing 42-40 at the start of the fourth period, it became the Weems show.
The 6-foot-2 junior brought the Sting back into a tie with a short jumper from the side, and followed it with a running bank-in. Shortly after, he drove for a three-point play.
Tolliver was 4-of-4 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes.
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