By Laura Stabbert
LIBERTY — January 7, 2011 —Both the Sullivan West Bulldogs and Liberty Indians were without a win going into Wednesday night’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV basketball game at Liberty High School.
In the final minutes of the game SW struggled to score and Liberty took the 40-33 win.
SW’s Eric Leewe won the tipoff and the Bulldogs put the first two points on the board.
It was a low scoring first half and Liberty had a two-point advantage, 18-16, at the intermission.
Three minutes into the second half Leewe had a steal and found teammate Lucas Bauer open to tie the score at 20.
SW’s Alex Manzi had a pair of 3-pointers in the final minutes of the third period. But Eddie Byrd connected with the basket to bring the Indians within a point at 29-28 heading into the final quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter Bauer scored for the Bulldogs.
Byrd answered and was fouled on his shot. He swished his free throw to knot the score at 31.
The Indians outscored the Bulldogs 9-2 in the remaining minutes for the victory.
“We missed some layups; we didn’t finish,” said SW Coach Cliff Kelly.
“Byrd's a real nice player,” he added.
Byrd was Liberty’s top scorer with a game high 28 points and Manzi led SW by netting 15 points.
“Our goal is to get a little bit better every time we step into the gym,” said Liberty Coach Jason Semo.
The Indians got a little better as they recorded their first win of the season. Liberty now has a record of 1-5 overall, 1-4 Div. IV.
SW has a record of 0-9, 0-4 Div. IV.