Salesianum coach Brendan Haley (left) instructs sophomore Paul Brown during the Sals’ overtime victory over Downingtown (Pa.) East at the Concord Classic on Monday.
BRANDYWINE HUNDRED – The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday gave the Salesianum basketball team a day off from school before Monday’s 6 p.m. tipoff at the Concord Classic.
Coach Brendan Haley said the young Sals didn’t handle the idle time well, but they got in gear just in time to slip past Downingtown (Pa.) East 52-49 in overtime.
Salesianum (6-3) was trailing 33-29 going into the fourth quarter, but rallied when Haley called for a full-court press.
“I just didn’t think we came with the energy for three quarters,” Haley said. “Fortunately, in the fourth, the pressure not only got to them a little bit, but it woke us up. It gave us a little bit of a lift.”
The Sals also got a lift from 6-foot-8 freshman Tariq Ingraham, who was scoreless in the first half but cranked up to finish with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
“He’s our main guy, and in the first half he was not ready to play,” Haley said. “It was not his best. But we also know that he’s got some gifts and some special talents that we need to take advantage of, and we just needed to get him going.
“Luckily, he got going in the second half and they didn’t have an answer for him.”
Ingraham scored on two offensive rebounds and Fahmir Ali drove for a layup to push Sallies ahead 39-36 with 4:24 to play.
The Cougars (7-7) cut the lead to two three different times, and a 3-pointer by Downingtown East’s Jarred Desrocher tied it at 47 with 23 seconds to play. The Sals’ Trevon Alderman missed on a drive at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Ali made a free throw and assisted on Ingraham’s layup, and Juwel Campbell hit a free throw to push Sallies to a 51-47 lead with 1:56 to play. The Sals were up 52-49 when a desperation 3-point attempt by the Cougars’ Jaret Cooper just missed at the overtime buzzer.
Campbell led the Sals with 13 points, and Kasai Guthrie scored 11. Garrett Burch came off the bench to lead Downingtown East with 10 points.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ