Since Matt Tamburri has been accepted to West Point, several Marlboro parents serenade him with chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!” every time he makes a big shot or play.
After Tamburri’s performance Tuesday night, let’s hear for him one more time: “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!”
Tamburri’s steal and layup late in overtime led Marlboro to a 46-44 come-from-behind win at SUNY Purchase. The Iron Dukes (15-5) move on to play Long Island’s Babylon (17-2) in the quarterfinals at noon Saturday at SUNY Old Westbury. Marlboro trailed Lourdes by 12 points entering the fourth quarter.
Tamburri’s big play came with 45 seconds remaining in overtime. He stripped the ball from Lourdes’ Mike Donnelly near midcourt and raced with it for a layup to put Marlboro up 45-44. It was the Iron Dukes’ first lead of the game. Tamburri, playing with four fouls, added a free throw with 6.6 seconds left in overtime to make it 46-44.
Lourdes (17-6) had a chance to tie it, but guard Kyle Santoro’s desperation jumper from about 14 feet was off.
Tamburri, held scoreless in the first half, ended up with seven points. He was one of many heroes for Marlboro, last year’s Section 9 Class A champ.
– Alex Smith scored 16 points for Marlboro and some of his biggest shots came when Lourdes looked like it might put away the Iron Dukes. Marlboro entered the fourth quarter down 11 points.
– Alain Dumas, a sophomore guard, came off the bench to score six points. More importantly, he played great defense, and never buckled under the pressure.
– Zach Sakadelis scored six points, at times, struggling. But he came up big when he needed to. Sakadelis’ 3-pointer with 1:18 left in overtime pulled Marlboro to within 44-43, setting the stage for Tamburri.
– Ryan Cary scored nine points at point guard, grinding it out, playing good defense.
– Finally, Mike Koehler and his staff deserves credit. They helped will Marlboro to the big-time win.
