Mathis Is The Hero In St. Benedicts Win
LIVINGSTON, N.J. -- James Mathis went from hero to goat and back to hero on Wednesday night in St. Benedict's hard fought 66-61 victory over the Hun School
Mathis, a 6-4 senior swingman bound for Niagara, scored seven of his 12 points in the second half to help the Gray Bees win, but his technical foul late in the fourth nearly allowed Hill to pull even.
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With St. Benedict's clinging to a 62-58 lead, Mathis was whistled for the technical with 1:05 to play after the Gray Bees turned the ball over by committing a foul on an inbound play.
Matt McKillop stepped to the line and knocked the first three down, but missed the fourth free throw to allow St. Benedict's to hold on to a slim 62-61 lead.
However, the technical also meant that Hun would retain possession, and after some shaky moments handling the ball along the perimeter, swingman Leo Stinson fired off a midrange jumper that didn't connect.
Junior point guard Bashir Mason, who carried the Gray Bees all night with 26 points, canned a pair of free throws to push the lead to three points, and Mathis capped the scoring by dunking the ball with 15.2 seconds left after a missed three point attempt by Hun's Stinson.
Stinson, a 6-3 senior from Princeton, led Hun with 16 points. McKillop added 15 and skilled 6-9 forward Calvin Arnold chipped in 12 points.
St. Benedict's, which is in its first year under Head Coach Danny Hurley, is making a second straight appearance in the Prep final on Saturday. Last year, the Gray Bees dropped a close decision to Lawrenceville. This year's opponent will be Blair Academy.
The two teams met earlier this season at Blair, with the Bucs claiming a 67-59 victory. In that game, Blair was without Luol Deng, who was back in England with visa problems at the time.