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DePaul’s 20 point outburst in the fourth quarter clinched their first league boys' basketball win of the season over Delbarton. This first meeting of last year’s division co-champs was, as expected, a hard-fought high school game throughout. DePaul was able to pull away late through the clutch shooting of star player Justin Crosgile.
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A slow first quarter provided a combined output of 16 points as both teams appeared to be going through a holiday hangover. The teams picked up their games and came out with more intensity in the second quarter. Delbarton grabbed a brief five-point lead, but DePaul went on a 13-6 run to close out the half and take a 24-21 lead into the looker room.
DePaul kept the momentum and was the more aggressive team in the early minutes of the third quarter. However, Delbarton kept fighting and with great play in the paint they were able to climb back into the basketball game. The Green Wave outscored the Spartans 11-2 to end the quarter and held a 35-34 lead to close out the third quarter.
DePaul was not to be denied and came out firing in the fourth quarter with a couple of key steals by Crosgile and Matt Miller that led to easy lay-ups. But after DePaul went up by four, Delbarton responded again to grab a 44-43 edge with under two minutes left.
That's when Justin Crosgile went to work. He drained a clutch three-pointer to give DePaul the lead again by two. Then as Delbarton was forced to foul, Crosgile went 8-for-8 from the free throw line. That combined with a 5 second violation on an inbound play by Delbarton put the nail in the coffin.
"We practice free throws a lot," Crosgile said. "They're free points, so you'll take them. We needed them down the stretch."
Coach Bart Fazio was happy his team’s performance, especially since the Spartans hadn't played a basketball game in 10 days. “We knew Delbarton was going to be a tough opponent and they’re a well coached team,” said Fazio. After losing both league games to Delbarton last year, this is beyond doubt a sweet win for the Spartans. DePaul now sports a league record of 1-1 as they hope to take the title alone this season instead of sharing. -- Emir Liguori for Jersey Sports Now
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