The UC boys basketball team defeated Elizabeth on Tuesday night.
The Union Catholic boys basketball team knocked off Elizabeth in a thriller
The Union Catholic boys basketball team has been waiting a long time to come up with a signature victory over one of its biggest rivals in the rugged Union County Conference.
After some near-misses earlier this season, the Vikings finally broke through and scored its biggest win in recent years by storming back from a 10-point deficit to upset Elizabeth on Tuesday night.
The Vikings, down 10 points in the third quarter, made some clutch shots down the stretch and played tenacious defense to come away with a hard-fought 44-42 upset victory to even its record at 6-6. .
Union Catholic, which avenged a six-point loss at Elizabeth last month, outscored Elizabeth 14-7 in the final quarter.
The game came right down to the wire.
With 1:20 remaining in the game, the Vikings took a 41-40 lead with 1:20 left to play when Keyshawn Winchester made two free throws after he was fouled attempting to score off a great feed from Raheem Williams.
Winchester, who scored a game-high 12 points, then came up a loose ball that led to a clutch baseline jumper by Williams to give the Vikings a 43-40 lead with 30 seconds left. After quick Elizabeth basket cut the lead to 43-32. Williams then made one of two foul shots with 10 seconds left to make it 44-42. Elizabeth had a good look at a three-pointer right before the final buzzer sounded, but the shot misfired.
Sophomores Yaw Ansong (10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots) and FK Muntari (eight points)
UC coach Jim Reagan Jr., called the victory the biggest for the program since the pandemic in 2020.
"We hit some shots and free throws down the stretch, really dominated the glass, and really turned on our defense in the fourth quarter,'' said Coach Reagan. It was a great win for us here at home in a big conference matchup. It's our biggest win since Covid. Our kids have kept grinding, and we've really grown from game to game, and year to year. Our players have shown great resiliency, and I'm really excited for them and our program.''
Next up for the Vikings is a road game vs. Linden, the No. 18 ranked team in the state, on Thursday at 7 p.m. Linden won the first matchup last month at UC, 63-57.
