On this day 13 years ago, Jon Marvin led the boys’ basketball team to a thrilling playoff victory over Eastport to give coach Mike Hickey a memorable birthday present. It was a sloppy beginning for both squads as turnovers and missed shots pervaded the early moments. The Bears turned the ball over on their first two possessions, but the defense stopped the Ducks on their first four to keep the game tied at 0-0. A floater in the lane and a deep 3-pointer from Marvin gave the Brook a quick 5-0 spurt, but Eastport punched right back with four straight points of their own. Marvin then bookended an Eastport basket with scores, the second of which was a difficult off-the-dribble shot to his left to give the Blue and White a 9-4 lead. Two runs ensued as the Bears followed a 5-0 spurt by Eastport with six unanswered of their own, on a backdoor layup by Howell and back-to-back scores by Seth Kuhn, to take a 15-11 advantage. With just over a minute left, the Ducks dropped in four more points, the last bucket with ten seconds left, to knot the score after one frenetic quarter.

Eastport switched to a zone to begin the second frame and Dave Marvin immediately made them pay by drilling a 3-pointer on the Bears’ first possession, one of four trifectas for the Brook in the period. After an Eastport score Jon Marvin drilled consecutive 3-pointers from the same exact spot two steps behind the arc to give the Brook a 24-17 edge. After the Ducks clawed back within two points, the Marvins imposed their will on the defensive end. Jon registered a thunderous block on a fast break, then consecutive steals and layups by Dave and Jon pushed the lead to 28-22. However, the run-and-gun Ducks responded with an 8-0 run to take back the lead with less than one minute left in the half. Marvin reciprocated with his third long ball of the quarter from well behind the arc with 23 seconds left to give the Bears a 31-30 halftime lead.

Coach Hickey’s halftime speech must have struck a chord with the boys as they began the second half with an 8-0 run on a 3-pointer by Dave Marvin, a deep trifecta by Jon Marvin, and a layup by Daren Brown courtesy of a beautiful backdoor feed by Dave Marvin. The Brooker defense was formidable, not allowing Eastport to register a point until 3:23 remained in the quarter when they used a 4-0 spurt to chip away at their deficit. Jon Marvin stemmed the tide with his sixth 3-pointer which rolled around the rim before dropping in and a spectacular one-handed putback as he came from the weak side and jumped between two Duck defenders to drop in the rebound. Marvin’s heroics gave the Bears a comfortable 44-34 lead but consecutive scores by Eastport left our boys up just six entering the pivotal frame.

Eastport signaled that the final eight minutes would be a battle as they began the quarter with a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to 44-43. Eastport then tied the game at 47-47 with 3:43 left, but Jon Marvin scored a huge and-1 off a steal and outlet pass by Kuhn to give the Bears a 50-47 advantage. Dave Marvin followed with a big steal and layup to push the lead to 52-48. The Ducks cut the lead to 52-50 with 1:33 remaining and had possession of the ball when Jon Marvin stole the ball, got fouled, and hit both free throws for a four-point edge. A stop and two more free throws from Marvin gave the Brook a seemingly comfortable 56-50 lead with just 1:10 on the clock, but the Bears would not make it easy on themselves in the homestretch.

Eastport came down and drilled a 3-pointer on their next possession, then, after an untimely Stony Brook turnover, they had a chance to tie the game with another trifecta. The shot missed the mark and the Ducks got the rebound, but stepped on the baseline to give the ball back to the Bears. Eastport had to foul and with a chance to ice the game, the Brook missed two free throws, giving the Ducks another chance to tie the contest. The Blue and White defense responded with another big stop and Jon Marvin snared the rebound and was fouled with 18 ticks left. After hitting one of two free throws, giving him seven of eight from the line in the fourth, the Bears did the unthinkable and fouled a 3-point shooter with 12 seconds remaining. The Ducks hit two of three shots to cut the deficit to 57-55 and fouled again with eight seconds left.

With the game on the line, the Bears missed two more free throws and after a vicious scrum for the ball the Ducks got one more chance by being awarded the jump ball. With just three seconds on the clock, Eastport launched a double-clutch shot from half court that bounced terrifyingly off the backboard before falling harmlessly away. Jon Marvin scored an incredible 36 points in his final game in Swanson Gymnasium while Dave Marvin added 10. The indomitable brothers combined for all eight of the Bears’ 3-pointers in the game.

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