Rams’ Ray shines ‘3’ at buzzer breaks Broncos

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HAMPDEN – The Bangor Rams were outrebounded, outshot, and outdefended by Hampden Academy, yet still they managed to win.

Why? Buddy Nickerson’s 3-point shooting, an effective man-to-man press forcing six Hampden turnovers in the last quarter… Oh, and the fact they had a player named Zak Ray while the Broncos did not.

Ray, who had a less-than-stellar shooting night overall, was unerring when the Rams needed him most. He canned two identical, 20-foot, pull-up 3-pointers near the top of the key in the final 35 seconds – the last one at the buzzer – to give the Rams a 56-55 win before a stunned crowd at Hampden Academy Wednesday night.

Bangor’s bench was equally stunned as coaches and players just grinned and shook their heads.

“I just told them I had nothing to say ‘so go see your parents and get going,'” said head coach Roger Reed, whose Rams are now 11-3.

Ray’s last long shot came off a dead sprint up the middle.

“I was just trying to get downcourt as fast as I could, and then I saw the opening, so I just threw it up,” Ray said while rolling his eyes. “I just wanted a chance.”

The Rams appeared to have no chance as they were down seven points with 2:22 to play and seven again with 48 seconds left.

Then reserve guard Aaron Gallant drew a foul after rebounding a Rams miss and hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 51-46 with 41 seconds left. After a Broncos turnover, Ray hit his second of three 3-pointers in the game.

Hampden’s Ian Larson was fouled with 27 seconds left. He hit his first, but the second was off and Gallant managed to grab the ball during a scramble underneath the basket. He also drew a foul and then converted another 1-and-1 to make it 52-51 Broncs with 26 seconds to go.

Hampden’s Justin DiFrederico drew a foul and hit both shots two seconds later and the Rams set up for a game-tying shot. With seven seconds left and no 3-point shot available, Rams senior guard Chris Bombardier took a chance, drove the high post, and banked one in to make it 54-53 Hampden.

“It wasn’t what we wanted because we wanted to kick it to the corner,” Reed said. “Luckily it worked out for us.”

Bangor had to foul fast and Nickerson (23 points on 5-for-11 3-point shooting) was able to catch Joey Dionne in the corner. Dionne’s first foul shot bounced three times on the rim before finally falling off, but the second one banked in for a two-point game.

The rest was all Ray as he raced down and scored the last of his 14 points on a shot that met nothing but net as it fell through the hoop.

Hampden’s players, coaches, and fans looked like they were sick.

“That’s exactly how we felt, like somebody had slugged us in the stomach,” said coach Andy Frace, whose Broncos dipped to 6-9.

“In hindsight, what we should have done was let the clock run and throw the ball down [to] the other end,” he said. “In the end, it came down to holding onto the ball and dealing with the pressure up front.”

That pressure came from a man press that Bangor hasn’t used much, but it proved devastatingly effective as 11 of Hampden’s 15 turnovers came in the second half.

Hampden’s extended 2-3 zone defense gave Bangor fits as the Rams shot 32 percent from the floor.

The win offset a brilliant outing by junior guard Ben Keller, who had a game-high 30 points and 14 rebounds for the Broncos.

RAMS 56, BRONCOS 55

Bangor (11-3) Hampden Academy (6-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Achorn 1 3 0 0 2 Larson 1 2 3

Ray 4 14 3 4 14 DiFrederico 2 8 8

Gallant 0 0 4 4 4 Keller 10 13 10 14 30

Bombardier 4 9 0 0 8 Dionne 2 5 6

Nickerson 7 17 4 4 23 Paoletti 2 6

Civiello 1 4 0 0 2 Whinery 0 0 0

R.Flynn 0 3 3 6 3 Thomas 1 2 2

Guerette 0 0 0 0 0

Shain 0 3 0 0 0

Totals 17 53 14 18 56 18 35 17 30 55

Bangor 16 21 35 56

Hampden 8 20 36 55

3-pt. goals: Bangor (8-17): Nickerson 5-11, Ray 3-5, Achorn 0-1; Hampden (2-4): DiFrederico 2-3, Larson 0-1

Attendance: 450 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JV 41-35