Murry Bergtraum comes into the PSAL A Playoff bracket on fire and as the #2 seed. They had a first-round bye and have blown out both of their matchups so far. The Trailblazers took on the #7 seed Paul Robeson in their first test and handled business 68-48. Here’s a breakdown of their performance.

This victory was tremendous for Murry as it keeps their playoff hopes alive and caps off their third year in a row of being undefeated at home. The game started off with both teams exchanging blows, getting stops and several trips to the line. Each team was spreading the shots around early as they look to establish their game plans. When the dust settled, and the horn went off the score was tied 14-14.

The second quarter was a different story as the Trailblazers really started to take off. 6’3” PG Andre Bowles ‘23 was getting to his spots and scored multiple times to give Murry the lead. When Robeson answered or managed to get a stop 6’4” G Donnell Campbell ‘22 stepped up. He drilled a three, grabbed a few loose balls and a finished a tough two to help lead Murry to a 16-7 quarter to end the second.

The trailblazers defense changed the momentum in the second quarter, and it continued into the third. Bowles had an early bucket; Robeson got a score from 6’1” G Jamel Johnson ‘22 when Campbell took over the game. He drilled a three, scored on the next possession, the defense got a stop and then he found Bowles for a score. They dominated the third winning 23-9 stretching their overall lead to 53-30.

Robeson kept fighting trying to close the gap, but Campbell answered with two big threes. A few other Trailblazers helped contribute in the fourth as the defense collapsed on the two guards. Despite winning their first quarter Robeson was out of time and ended up losing 68-48.

Murry advances to the final four of PSAL A bracket and will take on Brooklyn Law & Tech who they beat by 16 earlier this year. Head Coach Eddie Lau deserves some recognition for what he and his team has accomplished over the past three seasons. They have quietly racked up a ton of wins and points. Campbell led all scorers with 23, Bowles had 14 and Johnson finished with 10 Robeson.