Boys Basketball: Schaumburg escapes Glenbrook South

Updated: December 27, 2011 7:59PM

According to the seeds and records, Schaumburg figured to be a big favorite over Glenbrook South in Tuesday’s opening-day play at the Hinsdale South Holiday Tournament.

But despite bringing a 2-7 record into their game with the second-seeded Saxons, coach Scott Nemecek’s Titans felt that they could win and nearly pulled off that feat.

After leading for almost the entire first half, South trailed by as many as nine points in the final period before staging a late rally that fell short in a 49-46 loss.

“When you lose by three and have a chance to tie with a shot at the buzzer, it hurts,” Nemecek said. “We had a chance to lay down when they were pulling ahead and our guys didn’t do it. But that’s to Schaumburg’s credit and not a lack of effort on our part.”

As a result of the defeat, the Titans (2-8) meet up with Stagg in a 10 a.m. game in Wednesday’s consolation action in the first-year tournament in Darien.

Things weren’t looking good for South after Christian Spandiary (20 points) hit a layup to give the Saxons (7-3) a 43-34 lead midway through the final quarter.

But the Titans responded with a 10-2 spurt, which featured five points from Jamie Nikitas (17 points), to close to within 45-44 with 2:21 remaining in the game.

Nikitas started the run with a three-pointer and ended it with two free throws while Max Cohen added a three and Victor Levi (10 points, eight rebounds) made a layup.

South nearly took the lead with 1:17 left but Moses Park’s layup rolled off the rim and Kyle Bolger (15 points) added two free throws for the Saxons a bit later.

After Nikitas hit a layup with 23 seconds left to make it 47-46, Bolger added two more free throws before Matt Siegel missed a three-pointer in the final seconds.

The Titans allowed the first bucket but then scored eight straight points to help them to an 18-11 lead in the second quarter and a 23-19 advantage at the break.

South also got 12 points from Justin Busiel and six rebounds from Matt Powers. Jimmy Lundquist had six boards for the Saxons, who face Wheaton North in the quarterfinals.

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