Bulldogs Fight Back, Lose to Eagles in Overtime

Even as Edison strode confidently toward the locker room with a 45-29 halftime lead over Westfield Friday night, Eagles' Coach Terry Henderson knew the game was far from over.

"It's a game of runs, and that's what I told [my players] at halftime, I was like, 'This game is not over. It's 0-0, they're going to make a run, they're at home,'" Henderson said.

Henderson proved right as the Bulldogs came out scorching in the second half, quickly trimming the 16-point halftime deficit in half. What looked like a blowout became a see-saw battle, and Westfield eventually took a 65-62 lead with just 15 seconds left in the game.

It was then that Edison senior guard Jerome Diggs made his presence most felt.

Bypassing a three, Diggs drove hard to the hole and picked up a foul. After he made the first, Henderson called a timeout.

"I told him to miss the [second] free throw," Henderson said. "It didn't work the way we wanted, but one of the bigs was being able to get a hand on it and keep it alive, and that was the turning point."

Edison's Matt Murphy tipped the purposely missed foul shot, and it ended up in the hands of teammate Tyrone Mackall. He forced up a shot that bounced off the rim, but Diggs was right there for the put-back at the horn to force overtime.

The Eagles completely controlled the extra frame, thanks in large part to Westfield center Zach Elcano being on the bench after fouling out late in regulation.

The Eagles eventually beat the Bulldogs 79-70.

Edison took control of the game from the opening tap, using a loose zone press at three-quarters court to force turnover after turnover. Fewer than six minutes into the game, the Eagles held a commanding 21-2 lead.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Henderson said. "The transition was there, we hit a lot of shots early, and the guys were just playing at a high level. It made our guys a little more comfortable."

The gap remained between 12 and 19 for the rest of the first half, as Diggs poured in 16 of his 22 points in the first two quarters.

Other than Diggs and Matt Murphy, who had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half, the story was the Edison defense. They forced 12 Westfield turnovers, and minimized the effect of the 6-foot-10 Elcano.

Westfield made its run in the third quarter behind a number of unforced errors by Edison. The Bulldogs really took advantage once Diggs picked up his fourth foul with 3:31 left in the third, and cut the Eagle lead to six, at 56-50, heading into the fourth quarter.

"He makes us go, he provides a lot of energy," Henderson said of Diggs. "When he's off the floor, that senior leadership is gone. He's been here before. When he's not on the floor we're a different team."

Westfield made the most of the nearly eight minute stretch Diggs sat on the bench, taking its first lead on a layup by sophomore Chauncey Beckett with just under a minute left in the game. After an empty possession for Edison, Beckett hit two big free throws to extend the Westfield lead to three and set the stage for Diggs' dramatic putback.

Murphy finished the game with 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Eagles, while Yahia Mohamud poured in 15. Elcano had 20 points, eight boards and four blocks for Westfield. Julius Rosa added 16 points, and David Aurora had 17, going 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

Don't think the fact that a team from the National District, which isn't thought of very highly, went on the road and beat a Concorde District team went unnoticed. Henderson and Wakefield Coach Tony Bentley talked earlier in the day about the disrepute with with their district is seen.

"He told me to go out and rep for the National District," Henderson said. "We don't get any respect."

With Diggs and Murphy, it'll be hard to overlook the Eagles in--or outside--the National District.