TYNGSBOROUGH — A delayed start, a series of mental mistakes and a few bad bounces all conspired against the Lynn Tech boys basketball team Thursday afternoon, as the Tigers fell to Innovation Academy by a score of 60-56 in a Commonwealth Athletic Conference matchup at Tyngsborough Sports Center.
“I thought overall we played well in spots, but at the same time we just made too many mistakes to get the win,” said Tech coach Corey Bingham, whose team showed up to the wrong Tyngsborough Sports Center at first (yes, there are two facilities with the same name about two miles apart from each other). “You look at the score and see that we lost by four points and then you go back and think about all the turnovers and the mental mistakes that we made and we probably should have won this game.”
Andre Young led the offensive attack for the Tigers with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Michael Welch was close behind with 17 points and five rebounds. Ederick Gonzalez just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Brian Jones (four points, eight rebounds) and Cesar Reyes (two points, three rebounds) also played well in the loss.
Despite arriving at the facility late and having a shortened warm-up session, the Tigers didn’t get off to the worst start in the world. Behind some solid play from Young and Welch, Tech pushed out to a 16-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.
But things started to fall apart from there, as the Tigers made a series of turnovers and mental mistakes that allowed Innovation to get right back in the game. After a couple of big three-point baskets made by the Hawks, Innovation took a 35-25 lead into the halftime break.
Tech, which didn’t leave the floor during the halftime break and instead took the time to get in an extra warm up, actually came out in the third quarter and made a push. The hot hand of Young got the Tigers back within five points, but then Innovation got hot from behind the ark and stretched its lead back up to 10 points.
The fourth quarter was much of the same story, with every Tech run getting beaten back by an Innovation run. The Tigers were able to get within four points with a minute to play, but once again mistakes, turnovers and failed attempts to secure rebounds helped Innovation hold on to the lead the rest of the way.
“I give my guys a lot of credit for battling and never giving in, but we’ve still got to be better in those late-game situations,” said Bingham. “Those mistakes late in the game just killed us.”
Tech (0-4) will see Innovation again on Tuesday (5:30), when the Tigers play host to the Hawks.
“We’ve got a few days now to work on some things like ball security, shot selection and playing well under pressure,” said Bingham. “I think getting back home and playing them on our home court will help a little bit, but we’re also going to have to clean up our act and come with a better performance if we want to get the win.”
