Gov. Mifflin was on the brink of putting away Muhlenberg a couple times in the second half Friday night.
The Mustangs led by eight points in the third quarter and by six on Delsin McNeil’s putback that started the final quarter.
That’s when Edwin Suarez sent a message to his Muhls teammates.
“We need more energy,” Suarez said. “We need a lot of energy if we want to beat this team. We gotta turn it up.”
He and Xzavion Robertson did exactly that, stepping to the fore and carrying Muhlenberg past Gov. Mifflin 55-47 in a Berks Conference crossover game at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate.
With the score 44-44 midway through the fourth, Suarez made back-to-back plays that put Muhlenberg (4-1 Berks II, 10-2) ahead of the Mustangs (2-4 Berks I, 5-6) for good.
The 6-6 senior, who finished with 23 points, stole the basketball at Mifflin’s end, drove for a layup and made a free throw for a three-point play with 3:08 left.
“I gotta make a play,” Suarez said he told himself. “I gotta go for it.”
Moments later, he grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws for a 49-44 advantage.
“Great players always make great plays,” Muhls coach Matt Flowers said. “Edwin has been doing the same thing all season. He stepped up. He’s a little banged up, but he fought through it.
“When you’re in an adverse situation in a hostile environment, your senior always has to lead. He did a phenomenal job of leading tonight.”
Robertson, a junior, was equally important in the final eight minutes. He scored all 10 of his points after McNeil had given Mifflin a 42-36 lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
He made a step-back jumper, scored off a steal, drained a 3-pointer and made 3-of-6 from the line. Even though he was scoreless in the first three quarters, he didn’t wilt when it mattered most.
“Eddie told me to keep shooting the ball and to believe in myself,” Robertson said. “That’s what I did.”
Muhlenberg’s defense also played a large role, forcing the Mustangs into 20 turnovers and holding them to seven points in the fourth quarter.
“Some of the turnovers came in big spots,” Mifflin coach Kyle Conrad said. “That’s going to hurt you in a close game. We came out of a timeout (when it was 44-44) and turned it over in a big spot there.
“Our offensive execution needs to be better in close games.”
Matt Harley scored 16 points and McNeil had 12 for the Mustangs, who dropped their fourth straight.
Muhlenberg, on the other hand, won its fourth consecutive game and strengthened its hold on first place in Berks II. Tashiro Alexis had 13 points for the Muhls and delivered a pass on the most spectacular basket of the night, a dunk by Suarez that made it 52-46 with 40 seconds to go.
Muhlenberg’s two losses to Allentown Alllen (65-61) and Wilson (57-56) have been by a combined five points.
“This is huge for us,” Flowers said. “It’s a confidence boost. We gave one away last week (to Wilson), but we bounced back tonight. We gotta keep moving forward.”
When the Muhls were down 33-25, Flowers told them to keep battling.
“I told them to stick together and stay poised,” he said. “The team that sticks together will get tougher. They were tougher than we were in the first half.
“We brought our fight in the second half.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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