Despite beating Greenport 68-33 on December 15, the Bears were under no delusion that last night’s game would be easy.

The Porters are always a dangerous team on their home floor and are the type of squad that can be hard to slow down once they knock down a few shots and get rolling. The result was another battle on Front Street, where the Bears have not lost since 2011.

The boys got out to what has become a patented quick start, outscoring the Porters 22-10 in the opening quarter. As expected, the Porters did not back down in front of their boisterous home crowd, carving into the Bears’ lead to trail by just five going into the half. The game remained close from there, but the Blue and White was able to edge Greenport 16-15 and 19-14 over the final two quarters, again showing their ability to finish down the stretch in a 62-51 win.

Free throw shooting was one of the stories of the game. In a physical contest, the Bears connected on 26 of their 36 free throw attempts, including a clutch 15-of-18 in the fourth quarter. Robbie Colarusso again rose to the challenge in a big game, scoring a game-high 18 points to go with 6 assists. Jyles Etienne, who tormented the Porters in the last meeting with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 blocks, finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds to give the Bears a dominant post presence. Luke Meyer scored 14 points, including nine clutch free throws, and added 5 assists. Other contributors were Chester Kayonga with 6 points, Luke O’Connor with 5, and Mac Bohuny with 2.

With the win, coach Mike Hickey’s all-time record vs. Greenport improves to 28-21. The Bears have now won six straight games over the purple and gold.

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