Mineola Boys Rebound 59-56 Against Bethpage

After dropping two non-league games  and Oceanside the previous week, the Mineola boy's varsity basketball team came out on top in a 59-56 contest with the Bethpage Golden Eagles last Tuesday .

The Mustang's were again led by center Jimmy Bulva, who scored over half his teams points on his way to 30 for the night. Only five players for Mineola registered points on the scoreboard, but Mike Waszczuk was able to chip in 10 points in the effort, and Brian Gaffney and Thomas Ward each chipped in one point apiece.

"It's nice to get the win after two tough losses," Mustangs head coach Jim Hegmann said after the game.

Mineola came out of the gate and went right to Bulva, who made a shot as he was fouled. He missed the free throw.

The teams exchanged baskets on the next few possessions, and after Bulva put back a shot by Waszczuk to give Mineola a 9-6 lead, each team missed shots on their next three possessions to end the quarter.

Ward opened the scoring in the second with his own offensive put back, and after Bethpage's John Brewer scored on a shot in the paint, Bulva hit a jumper to give Mineola a 13-8 edge.

But Bethpage came storming back, ringing up 12 straight points on the Mustang's to give them a  20-13 edge, highlighted by back-to-back three pointers by Greg Gerber.

Mineola answered by going on an 11-2 run to end the first half. Ward hit on a three from a Ryan Jenkins pass to cut the lead to 22-20, while Gaffney was able to steal an inbound pass from Bethpage underneath his own basket and convert a lay-up with less than five seconds remaining. At the half, Mineola led 24-22.

The Mustangs started the second half by continuing to build their lead, with Gaffney assisting Bulva on the the team's first bucket, and then the next time down took a pass from Jenkins and draining a three to give Mineola a 29-24 lead.

Two possessions later, Gaffney found Waszczuk on a fast break to give Mineola a 31-24 lead. After Ward scored on an and-one, The Mustangs were up by 10, 34-24.

Bethpage's Nick Giglio netted five points to bring the score to 34-29 in the third, but Mineola turned to Bulva to open the lead back up. He scored on four straight possessions at the end of the period, and gave Mineola a 41-33 edge at the end of the period.

"When you have a 6'6" kid in the middle, things are easier," Hegmann said.

Bethpage scored the first two buckets of the fourth to bring them within seven, 43-35, and after a Bulva basket scored four more to cut the lead to 45-39.

Mineola, however, did not bend.

Waszczuk made a free throw and then a jumper on his next possession to bring the lead to 48-39, and then after a Brewer basket, Gaffney found Waszczuk wide open for a three to make it double digits at 51-41.

The Eagles made one final run at Mineola, ringing up a 7-3 run with time winding down. After a Bethpage three cut the lead to 58-54, Gaffney made a free throw to seal the deal for Mineola.

"I tell the guys, 'the little things equal big things'," Hegmann said, adding that "we won't give up, we have a veteran team."