By Nick DeLorenzo
LEVITTOWN – The red-hot Bensalem Owls improved their win streak to eight games Tuesday night with a 58-51 victory over the Truman Tigers.
Despite a win that upped Owls’ league record to 7-4, Bensalem Head Coach John Mullin wasn’t thrilled with the way his team played in the first half.
“It wasn’t one of our best efforts out of the gate,” he said. “I thought we could have made better decisions in the half court.”
Even though the Owls were leading 16-15 after the first quarter, the Tigers had clearly set the tone with their brand of fast-paced, high-risk basketball. The frantic speed of the game early on caused a combination of great defensive plays and sloppy decision making, resulting in a combined 20 turnovers in the first quarter alone.
After a shaky start, however, Mullin was able to stabilize his squad and make adjustments.
“[Once] we got a nice lead, we slowed them down and limited the possessions they had,” he said.
While Bensalem was able to correct their early turnover problems, the Owls never let up on the defensive end, forcing 29 Truman turnovers.
Senior guard Nick Christian realized that the Owls weren’t executing early and needed to get things going if they wanted to pull off a crucial road win.
“We had plays to break their press, but we weren’t really running them to perfection [in the first half],” Christian said. “We wanted to come out in the second half like it was 0-0. We started executing our offense, and we stopped turning the ball over.”
Leading the way for the Owls was Alex Agyedo with 15 points – many of which were scored in the paint, thanks to great ball movement from his teammates and timely offensive rebounds.
Bensalem received balanced scoring throughout its entire starting lineup. Christian tallied 13 points and Ivan Flores continued his recent scoring success with 12 points. Calvin Brown and Liam Kirgen contributed nine and seven points respectively.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Owls have undeniable chemistry, moving the ball swiftly and finding the open man on just about every possession. Christian attributes this to the coaching staff preaching the importance of treating teammates like family and trusting the leadership skills he and the other starters have.
“I think that just comes with practice and knowing the guys and their strengths on the court,” Christian said.
Much of the Owls’ success came from their ability to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line, which was both good news and bad news according to Mullin, as they converted just 18 of a whooping 35 attempts from the charity stripe.
Truman (3-8) was able to hit a fury of shots in the fourth quarter to make the final score close after falling behind by as many as 18 points in the second half. Eleven different players scored for the Tigers with Merdic Green leading the team with 12 points.
Even though it wasn’t the prettiest of victories, Christian knows the importance of winning on the road at this point in the season.
“It was a good [win], a league win on the road,” Christian said. “Coach preaches to be road tough. We didn’t want to come in here and have an upset happen. We stayed on top of our game.”
The win helps Bensalem keep pace in the Suburban One National Conference. The Owls are just one game out of first place behind Neshaminy and Council Rock North. They will attempt to dethrone the Indians on the road Friday night when they travel to Rock North.
Although it may be one of the most used clichés in all of sports, both Christian and Mullin adhere to the old ‘take it one game at a time’ theory in regards to the rest of the season.
“We want to continue to grow defensively and offensively,” Christian said. “[We want to] keep moving the ball and, like coach says, keep playing ‘Bensalem basketball’ and not worry about the opponent – just play our game. If we can do that, we should be successful.”
Coach Mullin is equally optimistic about the rest of this season, as he feels his team can play with anyone.
“We’re not a one-man or two-man team,” the Owls’ coach said. “We’ve got kids who can score. I expect us to battle and be in every game.”
BENSALEM 58, TRUMAN 51
Bensalem (58) - Christian 2 9-16 13; Agyedo 6 3-6 15; Brown 3 3-8 9; Kirgan 3 1-2 7; Flores 5 2-2 12; Richlin 1 0-0 2; McMullin 0 0-1 0. TOTALS 20 18-35 58.
Truman (51) - Kubish 2 0-0 5; Amparo 2 0-0 4; Palmer 2 1-1 5; Valentine 2 0-0 5; Miller 3 0-0 6; Williams 1 0-0 2; Green 5 0-2 12; Wilson 1 0-0 2; Mintgh 2 3-6 7; Square 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 21 4-9 51
Bensalem -- 16 17 15 10-58
Truman -- 15 10 7 19-51
3 Pointers: Bensalem -- 0; Truman -- Kubish, Valentine, Green 2
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