Moultrie doesn't disappoint, boosts Malverne
The usually stoic Anthony Moultrie allowed a little smile - he couldn't help it.
Waiting to take the opening tipoff against Friends Academy's Kellan Sehring, the Malverne forward could hear the compliment. The entire dead silent Malverne gym could hear it.
"Number 35 is Anthony Moultrie, and he's a player I really like," boomed MSG Varsity announcer Carl Reuter.
Moultrie lived up to the pregame hype at the end of another thriller between the Mules and Friends Academy. The senior, who finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds, hit two free throws with four seconds left to help seal a 44-41 win over Friends in Conference BC, Malverne's 10th straight victory.
The game ended in most unusual fashion as TJ Hefele's three-point attempt got stuck between the rim and the backboard. The buzzer sounded, but the referees put a second back on the clock because the play is ruled a jump ball.
But Friends couldn't get a shot off as time expired.
"Honestly, I thought the game was over," Moultrie said of the quirky play, before adding the pressure of his free throws was "a lot."
The Quakers (10-2) trailed by 11 in the fourth quarter, closed the gap to one and had a chance to take the lead on a 1-and-1 with eight seconds left. But the first free throw was missed, and Moultrie came down with the rebound.
Friends began its comeback on back-to-back three-pointers by Tommy Costa and one from Hefele that brought the Quakers to within 42-39 with less than a minute to play. Malverne (12-0) was then whistled for a 10-second backcourt violation, turning the ball over to the Quakers.
Hefele missed a three-point attempt, but Marc Godlis stripped the ball off the rebound and laid it in to make it 42-41, which is as close as Friends would come.
The loss snapped Friends' seven-game winning streak, dating to a 65-64 loss to Malverne on Jan. 11.
The teams were scoreless for the first 2:41 of the game until Godlis banked in a runner to put Friends on the board. Malverne responded on its next possession when Marc Jean, the Mules' only non-senior starter and at 5-7 by far the smallest player on the court, drained a three-pointer from the left corner.
Xavier Bernard scored 10 points for the Mules and Cory Alexander had eight. Moultrie, the TV star, scored nine of his 12 in the second half.
Said Moultrie of living up to the hype: "It didn't make me nervous. It just fueled me to help us keep our streak going."