PRESTON, Lancs. — Edoardo Del Cadia and Konrad Kantorski scored 16 points each, and Myerscough held off the Essex Blades 75-71 to reach the Division 3 Playoffs semifinals on Saturday.
Rayon Brown added 12 points and Mate Okros had 11 for Myerscough. Landry Mayinga and David Walsh combined for 14 points in the win.
Myerscough, which led by as many as 14 points in the first half, used an 8-0 run to break a 44-all tie with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter. But the Blades didn’t allow the hosts to scamper away and responded to close the gap to 56-54.
Essex would knott the game at 68 with 3:29 left before Kantorski restored Myerscough’s lead. The guard couldn’t finish off the 3-point play, but Mayinga extended the advantage to 72-68 with a floater to beat the shot clock.
“It’s good to overcome some tough moments in games because it shows we’re here to compete,” Myerscough guard Brown said.
Despite Essex cutting it to a one-point game, Myerscough converted 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds whilst the Blades missed their final four shots.
“Essex put in a really strong performance, but it’s full credit to our guys who showed resilience throughout the game and were able to close out the win,” said Myerscough head coach Neal Hopkins. “We know this team is committed to winning — we’ve seen it throughout the season and today was a great illustration.”
D. Morton led Essex with a game-high 18 points and T. Childs added 16 in the loss.
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