PHILADELPHIA – Out of a timeout with just 3.6 seconds remaining, the HFU men's basketball team got one final defensive stop to preserve a 64-63 triumph over city-rival Jefferson on Tuesday night at the Campus Center.
 
Individual Highlights

• Tazir Cantey (Lindenwold, N.J./Eastern Regional) led the Tigers with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Aamir Hurst (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann Goretti) made 6-of-6 free throws en route to scoring 15
• Eric Esposito (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) was also in double-figures with 10 points, to go along with game-highs of three steals and three assists
  • The senior moved into a tie for ninth in program history with 130 career steals
• David Robinson Jr. (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds, while Jake McGonigle (Ocean City, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) also had three assists
• Rick'Keem Mixson (Linden, N.J./St. Mary of the Assumption (Raritan Valley CC)) tallied nine points, while Malik Archer (Philadelphia, Pa./Mathematics,Civics & Science Charter School (Beaver County CC)) scored eight

 
Inside the Box Score

• The Holy Family bench outscored the Rams' 15-0, and the Tigers recorded a season-low nine turnovers

 
How it Happened 
First Half

• Jefferson jumped out to a 3-10 lead 2:51 in, erasing an early deficit that came on a Mixson 3-poitner
• Cantey scored the next four points, but two and-ones sparked a 2-8 stretch for the first of two game-high nine-point cushions, the second of which came at 12-20 with 13:39 showing
• Cantey came back with an and-one of his own, before a Hurst dunk highlighted a 10-2 flurry that ended when his two foul shots tied the score at 22-22 entering the final eight minutes
• The Rams responded with a 3-pointer, and HFU could not tie it again in the first half despite getting as close as one on two Hurst free throws and a Mixson layup at the 7:03 and 6:16 marks
• Jefferson momentarily re-established a three-possession advantage when two foul shots ended four unanswered for a 30-37 score-line 1:12 ahead of the break, but Hurst closed the half with a layup

Second Half

• Holy Family then took 1:45 to score the first seven points out of the locker room, with Esposito's 3-pointer giving the Tigers their second lead, 39-37
• The Rams answered with a 2-8 surge to go up 41-45 with 13:41 left, but that would be their last two-possession advantage of the night
• Trailing 44-47 a minute and a half later, Hurst would score seven consecutive points capped by a layup to make the score 51-47 with 10:22 to play
• Archer 3-pointers at the 7:31 and 6:19 marks sandwiched a Jefferson triple, the latter of which established HFU's largest cushion, 59-52, with just 6:19 remaining
• The Rams would score nine in a row though, regaining the lead, 59-61, with just 2:21 to go 
• Esposito came right back with a three-point play just 20 seconds after, before hitting a jumper for a 64-61 advantage with just 1:26 showing
• Jefferson would make 1-of-2 fouls shots just two seconds apart, the second at the 33-second mark, before a Tigers missed free throw set the stage for the final defensive stop
• Robinson Jr. contested the final miss

 
Up Next
Holy Family hits the road for the first time in three and a half weeks when it travels to Bridgeport for a 3 p.m. tip this Saturday.