BANGOR – The closer Bangor and Hampden Academy got to the basket Tuesday night, the more difficult the shots.

Such is life in the defense-dominated Big East Conference schoolboy basketball ranks this winter.

But Bangor’s offense shook loose for a momentary blitz from beyond the 3-point arc midway through the second half, and it made all the difference as the Rams emerged with a 54-40 victory at Red Barry Gymnasium.

The win was the second straight for 3-4 Bangor, which also avenged a 51-44 loss to the Broncos on Dec. 19. Hampden fell to 3-4 with its second straight loss.

Bangor held just a 34-33 lead in the final seconds of the third quarter before Aaron Gallant beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer from the left corner.

After Hampden’s Blaine Meehan opened the fourth period by making one of two from the free throw line, Gallant and Astle each struck from long range, and suddenly Bangor’s lead was 43-34 with 5:52 left.

Hampden had long since made its last field goal of the game – a runner by Josh McNutt with 1:47 left in the third quarter, one of two Bronco baskets in the second half – and there was no comeback to be mounted.

“I thought the biggest shot of the game was Gallant’s to end the third quarter,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “We had the ball, up one, wanting to take the last shot. We turned it over and they hit a three. That was four points of separation, and at worst we were going to be down one before the turnover. Then they came out a couple more threes and got that nine-point lead, and Bangor with a nine-point lead is like most teams having a 15-point lead.”

Gallant finished with 20 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

The Rams also got big efforts from Astle and junior center Andrew Trundy. Astle scored 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers and a three-point play early in the third quarter that helped Bangor erase a 20-16 halftime deficit.

“Chad’s not very big, but he’s continuously moving, and he gave us a big lift tonight,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “He hit a couple of big threes, and he helped us rebound.”

Trundy, at 6-foot-6 Bangor’s tallest player, scored 12 points in his first varsity start and played a key defensive role against Hampden center Jordan Cook. Cook, a 6-9 sophomore, also battled foul trouble and was held without a field goal while finishing with four points.

“Tonight we played great team defense,” said Gallant, “and Andrew did a great job in the middle for us.”

Hampden shot 27 percent (10 of 37) from the field for the game, just 13 percent (2 of 15) after intermission.

“The last time we played them, we made a lot of defensive errors,” said Reed. “We’re still doing some things wrong, but we’re trying to correct that. We’re not giving up a lot of points, but Hampden is a good team and you can’t make mistakes against them. Tonight we didn’t make as many mistakes.”

McNutt paced the Broncos offensively with 14 points.

“I thought we got good shots in the second half, we didn’t get a lot of them and the ones we got didn’t fall,” said Bartlett. “They made some shots in the second half, and we didn’t, plain and simple.”

RAMS 54, BRONCOS 40

Hampden Acad. (3-4) Bangor (3-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

McCue 0 2 0 0 0 Heath 1 3 4

Meehan 0 1 1 2 1 Gallant 4 12 14 20

Moran 1 2 3 4 5 Dowe 0 1 0

McNutt 5 10 2 4 14 Astle 3 8 11

Uhrin 1 2 6 6 8 DeRosa 1 6 7

Ross 1 6 0 0 3 St. John 0 2 0

Hodgdon 2 8 1 2 5 Anderson 0 0

Silver 0 0 0 0 0 Trundy 5 7 12

Cook 0 6 4 4 4 Conteh 0 0 0 0

Totals 10 37 17 22 40 14 39 20 27 54

Hampden Academy 11 20 33 40

Bangor 11 16 37 54

3-pt. goals ? Hampden Acad. (3-14): McNutt 2-5, Ross 1-3, Uhrin 0-1, McCue 0-2, Hodgdon 0-3; Bangor (6-15): Gallant 3-3, Astle 2-7, DeRosa 1-3, Heath 0-1, St. John 0-1

Attendance: 500 (est.)

JV: Bangor 57-51