The Reading Rebels basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday night with a 118-110 victory over the Lehigh Valley Legends at Alvernia University. The win comes after the Rebels fell to the Albany Patroons 123-100 on Friday night.
Lehigh Valley led 102-101 with 5:53 left, but Reading (5-5) outscored the Legends (6-6) 17-8 down the stretch.
With the Rebels leading 113-110 and less than 30 seconds remaining, Berks Catholic grad Marcus Dawkins, who finished with seven points, went to the foul line for two shots. After making the first free throw, Dawkins missed his second, but a loose ball foul on Lehigh Valley gave the Rebels two more foul shots.
Richard McCalop converted both free throws and Lehigh Valley failed to score on its next and final possession.
McCalop dazzled the crowd with an uncontested slam dunk as time expired to close out the scoring.
Field goal opportunities were at a premium for the Legends late in the game as the Rebels tightened their defense and forced Lehigh Valley into several turnovers. The Legends made just two field goals in the final six minutes and Reading outscored Lehigh Valley 31-20 in the fourth quarter.
Reading High grad Trenity Burdine and Kutztown University product Anthony Lee each scored a team-high 23 points for the Rebels. Lee also converted three 3-pointers and was the only Rebel to score from behind the arc.
Donovon Jack, a Berks Catholic grad, had a team-high 11 rebounds and 19 points for Reading.
Dontel Highsmith, the Rebels’ 2022 first-round draft selection, had a team-high five assists. Highsmith also was 6-of-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and went 7-of-8 overall on free throws while scoring nine total points.
JaQuay James scored a game-high 39 points for Lehigh Valley during the back-and-forth contest that saw 17 lead changes, 10 in the first half.
The Rebels are 3-0 against the Legends in 2022.
Reading will return to action on April 22 when the Rebels take on the Albany Patroons at Geigle Complex at 8 p.m.
Source: Berkshire mont