Team falls apart in final minute
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
ROSELLE PARK The Manville High boys gave one away last Friday night in Roselle Park.
MHS head coach Marty Geiger was understandably frustrated after watching his basketball team squander a four-point lead in the final 1:15. The Panthers took advantage of several Manville mistakes and rallied to a 44-43 victory.
Roselle Park senior guard Malik Caldwell knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side of the key with 17 seconds remaining to turn a two-point deficit into a one-point lead. The Mustangs called timeout to set up a winning play but poor execution prevented them from getting off a shot.
”Terrible,” Geiger said afterward. “We mismanaged the game.”
The meltdown started with 1:18 remaining when MHS senior Dan Pierrot, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, threw the ball away on a backcourt violation. Caldwell made 1-of-2 free throws to cut Manville’s lead to three points.
Instead of milking the clock, MHS senior Eric Hall took a jumper from the middle of the lane on the next possession that missed the mark. The Panthers collected the rebound and made another free throw to make it 43-41.
Geiger called a full timeout with 53 seconds to play. The Mustangs got the ball inbounds but Hall was tied up by Caldwell. The alternating possession went to Roselle Park with 26 seconds left. The Panthers set up the winning play and Caldwell drained the three.
”Matias (Gualtieri) got picked off and he didn’t fight through it,” Geiger said. “We didn’t step in and help.”
The Mustangs quickly called timeout with 14 seconds left. Gualtieri dribbled the ball up the floor and found Doug Bradley on the left low post. Bradley kicked it back to Pierrot, who was open at the top of the key with six seconds left. Pierrot passed on the shot and hit Hall near the basket. Roselle Park collapsed on Hall and the ball was loose as the buzzer sounded.
”We just wanted to get the ball up the court to an open man,” Geiger said. “We wanted to find Doug or Danny. We made one too many passes.”
The game went back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than five points. Manville scored the first four points and owned an 11-9 lead after one quarter. Roselle Park picked it up in the second and took a 21-19 lead at the half.
Pierrot started to assert himself in the third period, scoring nine points to help the Mustangs recover from a five-point deficit. Pierrot drained a 3-pointer from the left corner and Richie Kloskowski drove to the basket for a 32-29 Manville advantage after three.
The Mustangs added to their lead early in the fourth quarter. Bradley hit a jumper and converted two free throws to make it 36-31 with 6:35 remaining. They maintained that lead even after two shots were rejected in a span of 30 seconds later in the quarter. Pierrot snuck in for a backdoor layup for a 43-39 lead with 2:03 to play. Manville didn’t score another point.
”Our offensive execution was terrible,” Geiger said. “We didn’t go strong to the basket. We missed too many layups.”
The Mustangs struggled for the second straight game without senior Matt Zangara, who missed the entire week with a virus. Zangara scored a career-high 29 points in the team’s Feb. 13 loss to Bound Brook but didn’t play vs. South Hunterdon or Roselle Park. The Mustangs defeated Roselle Park earlier this year with Zangara in the lineup, so his absence was a factor.
”It hurt us a lot,” Geiger said. “We could only go seven deep. You need that one extra guy in there.”
Pierrot led the Mustangs with 13 points, while Hall and Bradley added 11 apiece. The loss capped a tough week for the Mustangs, who fell to 6-16 with one game to play.
”We’ve been practicing terrible and we played terrible tonight,” Geiger said. “You have to be smart and execute. We didn’t do that tonight.”

