Ervin Erupts for 42
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The schedule said that Robeson was slated to play Park West on Saturday afternoon in a PSAL quarterfinal round game, but the Eagles really needed just one player to carry them to victory -- senior point/combo guard Gary Ervin.
Ervin erupted for 42 points, dazzling the crowd with his offensive acumen as Robeson coasted to a 79-58 victory over Park West.
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Ervin scored 29 of his 42 points in the second half to help the Eagles build on a strong first half performance.
The Seahawks fell behind 14-2 in the opening three minutes, and spent the entire afternoon trying to catch up to Ervin and Robeson.
Trailing by 13 at the half, Park West fell behind 55-33 in the opening two minutes of the second half. To their credit, the Seahawks clawed back into the game, pulling to within 59-47 on a stickback by forward Brian McFadden with 6:19 to play in the contest.
That's when Ervin single handedly put the game on ice, sparking the Eagles to a 14-5 run over the next four minutes to put it out of reach.
Ervin started the surge with an acrobatic, old fashioned three point play, and then tapped in a Shakiem Mitchell miss in close on Robeson's next possession to extend the cushion to 15.
Moments later, he muscled in a tough runner on the break, and capped things off with a dunk and three free throws that made it 73-52 with 2:01 to play.
No other Robeson player hit double figures.
Park West's Ramel Bradley turned in a solid effort with 25 points, but neither he or the Seahawks had an answer for Ervin.
After the game, Bradley expressed surprise at Ervin's outburst, even though he and his Seahawk teammates chanted how they wanted to play Robeson after last Monday's sweet 16 PSAL victory.
As the old adage says, be careful what you wish for.
"They got off to such a strong start, and that made it tough for us today," Bradley said. "We were hoping to get off to a start like that."
Three Park West players, including Bradley, wound up fouling out in the fourth quarter. One of those foul out victims, point guard Cleveland Kelly, chipped in 12 points for the Seahawks.
Robeson, the top seed in Class A, will face fourth seeded Grady next Saturday at St. John's in PSAL semifinal action.