One night after exploding for 33 points, Thomas Shaughnessy proved he had plenty left in the tank.
Shaughnessy scored 21 points and dished out five assists as Needham defeated Lowell, 72-65, in the Division 1 Comcast Dvinci Tournament championship. Shaughnessy was awarded the tournament's most valuable player award.
“These are great games to play in going into the (state) tournament," said Needham coach Paul Liner. "These last two nights have been tournament atmosphere and a great experience to get us ready."
The Rockets led 65-53 with just four minutes left, but Lowell turned to its full court press to make a late surge. Carlos Nunez hit a corner, and Rashawn Settles converted at the rim off a pair of Needham turnovers to trim the deficit to 65-60.
Will Dorion (18 points), however, came through with a huge offensive-put back to increase the Rockets lead back up to seven with a minute left and seal the win.
Needham came out firing to begin the game as a Dorion three capped off a 9-2 start for the Rockets. Shaughnessy then showcased his range drilling back-to-back treys to put the Rockets up 19-8. The lead ballooned up to 20 in the second quarter on a Shaughnessy three-point play, before settling for a 37-21 lead at the half.
In the Division 2 championship, Belmont (15-5) defeated St. Mary’s, 74-63, behind 28 points, six rebounds, and six assists from tournament MVP Danny Yardemian.
Belmont held a 16-point lead at the break, and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half but five straight points from Stephen Fama (23 points) pulled the Spartans within 68-59 with just over two minutes left.
Yardemian, however, sealed the game at the free throw line hitting 10 at the charity stripe in the final frame.
The Spartans trailed 16-13 early in the second quarter, but Jalen Echevarria and Fama hit back-to-back treys to even the score at 19. Belmont caught fire over the final five minutes of the half. Mac Annus scored nine straight points, and Ben Sseruwagi connected at the rim off a feed from Yardemian to cap off an 11-0 run that put the Marauders on top 30-19.
Yardemian then kept the Marauders offense in rhythm knocking down a pair of foul line jumpers before Sseruwagi drilled a three as the half expired to give Belmont a 43-27 advantage at the intermission.
