BANGOR – It has been an up-and-down season for the Old Town boys basketball team. The Indians have fluctuated between a team that can compete with the best teams in Eastern Maine on one night and a team that plays like a park pickup team on another.

Tuesday night at the Bangor Auditorium the Indians turned in a good enough performance to beat the John Bapst Crusaders 58-49.

It wasn’t the consistent game Old Town coach Marty Clark was hoping for but he’ll take it. The 7-8 Indians played a solid fourth quarter with the game on the line after some inconsistencies earlier in the game.

“We’ve had some tough losses,” Old Town shooting guard Kevin Emerson said. “We need to finish games better. We did tonight.”

Indeed. The Indians shot 50 percent from the floor, hitting 20 of 40 shots. But it was their free throw shooting that saved them. The Indians were 15 of 19, including 12 of 15 in the fourth quarter when the 1-11 Crusaders fell behind and were forced into fouling.

“[Hitting free throws] is a big key for us,” Old Town forward Tyler Tracewski said. “If we miss those it can get contagious.”

Emerson had 16 points and Tracewski scored 15. Emerson was effective from the outside, hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers while Tracewski gave the Indians a tough presence inside.

The margin of victory came primarily at the foul line after John Bapst had made a game of it in the third quarter and tied the score at 37 by quarter’s end.

Alex Means came alive offensively for the Crusaders. He finished with 19 points, seven coming in the third quarter.

The big play was a Means 3-pointer in which he was fouled and made the free throw with the Crusaders trailing by nine at 29-20.

The play seemed to awaken the Crusaders, who had been struggling through stretches of the game offensively.

Means’ play was followed by a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore Kyle Ferrill and a 3-pointer by Chris Leavitt. Ferrill’s second 3-pointer came just before the buzzer and tied the game.

The Indians came out in the fourth quarter with a mandate to take the ball inside. The tactic drew fouls and got them to the line.

In fact, the Indians’ only field goal in the final six minutes of the game came on an Emerson 3-pointer.

At the other end, the Indians played a strong quarter defensively, limiting the Crusaders to just two baskets in the final 3:20 of the game.

“We kept battling to get back in it then they would come up with a loose ball or an offensive rebound,” John Bapst coach Jason Mills said. “We’d have a steal that would go through our hands. We could never get over the top.”

The Crusaders had stayed within striking distance throughout the first half behind the strong inside play of Dan Myerowitz. Myerowitz had 15 points in the game, nine coming in the first half.

Old Town entered the game in ninth place in the recent Heal point standings.

The Indians have pointworthy games remaining against Nokomis of Newport and Brewer.

INDIANS 58, CRUSADERS 49

Old Town (7-8) John Bapst (1-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Emerson 5 11 3 3 16 Leavitt 1 3 3

Thurston 0 0 0 0 0 Snyder 0 2 0

Curtis 0 1 1 2 1 Freeman 0 2 0

King 2 5 0 0 4 Means 7 9 3 19

Dupuis 0 1 0 0 0 Ferrill 3 9 8

Petrie 1 2 4 4 6 Roach 0 0 0

Tracewski 7 10 1 1 15 Myerowitz 7 15 1 3 15

Conary 1 1 2 2 4 Nason 1 2 4

Brown 2 5 1 2 5

Miller 0 0 0 0 0

Bjorn 2 4 3 5 7

Totals 20 40 15 19 58 19 42 11 49

Old Town 14 23 37 58

John Bapst 7 19 37 49

3-pt. goals: Old Town (3-7): Emerson 3-7; John Bapst (5-9): Means 2-3, Ferrill 2-4, Leavitt 1-2

Attendance: 100 (est.)

Preliminary: John Bapst 59-54