Rangers light up 10 Edison
In Thursday evening's game the plot would be simple. The Thomas Edison Inventors, a team in the vulnerable NYCHoops #10 spot versus a hungry Forest Hills Rangers, an On the Bubble team that is in a prime position to take that spot with a win.
The stage was set but at the final curtain call, the Rangers took the bow, upending the Inventors, 76-69
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First blood was drawn early as recent UConn commit, Maurice Harkless, scoring 2 of his game high 19 points off a left handed lay-up in transition for the Rangers. Osamuede Egharevba (13 points) soon answered for the Inventors with a soft floater in the paint. Forest Hills had the upper hand early, with Jose Torres (15 points & 11 rebounds) initially winning the battle of the boards against Stephen Nwaukoni (7 points & 15 rebounds).
Down 17-12 to start the second quarter, Edison played a zone which originally eliminated the Rangers penetration. PG Jayvaughn Johnson (8 points) would make the Rangers pay, scoring a fast break lay-up that sparked a run. Tied at 17, the Inventors continued to attack and with 4:40 left in the half, Forest Hills was suddenly in hole, 24-17, off a Josh Gray dunk. Back-to-backs by Denzel Dulin (12 points) and PG Antoine Tutt (3 points) finally put an end to the Inventors 12-0 run but the Rangers were still down by 4 points with 2:18 remaining in the half. Rudy Collins (5 points) added some offense for Forest Hills as did Torres, who tied the score again at 27 with 55 seconds in the half. Gray (12 points) would put Edison back up by a point and Nwaukoni would extend the lead with a putback. With 3.3 left in the half, Torres would get fouled in the act, go 2-2, but it would still leave the Rangers down, 31-29, going into the second half.
Jibber jabbering between Egharevba and Harkless, to start the half, resulted in a, in the face, jumper from the top of the key by Egharevba. Harkless would immediately reciprocate as both teams came out hyped. But Harkless took it to another level with another basket plus a jumper and the Rangers would regain the lead.
Kris Owens (11 points) joined the shootout for Edision, nailing a three pointer to quickly swing the pendulum in the Inventors favor but the lead would change hands as Harkless and Dulin would counter offensively. A three pointer by Nick Padgett (7 points) would give the Rangers a 50-45 lead with 2:18 left in the third.
A 56-53 Rangers lead to start the fourth would not last as Cavon Baker (17 points) tied the game with a 3 pointer for Edison. The lead swung back and forth as did the momentum With 4:32 left in the game Rangers head coach Ben Chobhaphand instructed his team to drive into Egharevba, who had 4 fouls. Shawn Branch (7 points) complied driving into the lane. Now missing one of their main scorers, Edison was on their heels and a Harkless facial put Forest Hills up 68-64 with 3:48 remaining. The Inventors would manage to tie the score once more but the momentum was still with the home team Rangers. A basket by Sonny Kadisha (6 points), down the stretch, and the Rangers were soon up, 74-69 with 1 minute remaining in the game. As time wound down, Edison was reduced to fouling and hoping for miracle Rangers misses from the freethrow line. Miracle denied.
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