On this day 16 years ago, the boys’ basketball team earned an historic victory over Bridgehampton in a 62-60 nail-biter. It was coach Mike Hickey’s first victory at the “Bee Hive” and it came against a very good Killer Bees team that after the 1994-1995 season would win three consecutive Class D State Championships.

The Bears wasted no time in building a lead. After Bridgehampton scored the first 3 points, the Brook reeled off 12 unanswered, punctuated by back-to-back 3-pointers from Chris Meserole and Robbie Marvin. The Bees would answer back, but the Blue and White still took the opening quarter, 18-14. The Bridgehampton offense began to click in the second, but Marvin helped the Bears keep pace by drilling another 3-pointer and scoring 7 in the quarter to give him 14 at the break.

The Brook clung to a precarious one-point lead as the second half began, but the Killer Bees’ Terrell Hopson caught fire in the third, scoring 12, to give the black and gold a five-point edge entering the decisive frame. Staring down a five-point deficit is usually not a daunting prospect but in the “Bee Hive,” where the length of the floor is so short that the back courts overlap and the width is so narrow that the 3-point arc ends on the sideline, it is a different proposition altogether. However, with the pressure on, both familiar and unlikely heroes emerged.

Marvin connected on his third 3-pointer to signal that the Bears were not about to fold. With 2:31 remaining, the Bees still held a 56-51 lead when Jeremy Meserole and Matt Mattimore combined forces on a 6-0 run to give the Brook a slight 57-56 advantage with 1:01 left. The Bees took the lead back with 44 seconds remaining on two free throws, but Mattimore responded on the very next possession with his third straight score to give the Brook a 59-58 lead with 32 ticks left.

In need of a stop, the Bears’ defense came through and had possession of the ball as the seconds waned. If you were to ask coach Hickey prior to the game who the hero of the game would be, he may have given you five names before mentioning Peter Litman, but the reserve came through with a score while drawing the foul with just 15 seconds on the clock. He converted the free throw to push the lead to four and seal the huge victory. Marvin finished with 21 points and Mattimore, who scored 8 in the pivotal fourth quarter, added 20. Jeremy Meserole added 8 points while Litman chipped in 6.

Matt Mattimore intercepted a pass intended for Terrell Hopson and went the length of the court for a layup with 1:30 left to give Stony Brook a 59-58 lead in its 62-60 win over Bridgehampton. Mattimore, who scored four of the last five points for Stony Brook (2-8), finished with 20 points. Hopson scored a game-high 30 points for Bridgehampton (5-5).

~ Newsday

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