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BOSTON SHOOTOUT

BABC beats New England Playaz for 69-68 victory

BABC69
N.E. Playaz68

Behind 31 points from guard Terance Mann, the Boston Amateur Basketball Club junior team earned a gritty 69-68 victory over the New England Playaz Sunday in the final to conclude the 42d Boston Shootout at Cathedral High School.

“I really didn’t expect it to be this close, but I just really wanted to come out and beat them and win the championship again,” Mann said. “Keep the tradition of winning this.”

The teams needed overtime to determine last year’s champion, so even after cruising through this year’s first round and semifinals, BABC coach Leo Papile expected a close contest for the title.

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“It’s a rivalry game,” Papile said. “Last year was the same way. We won. It was close, but we won. It’s good for the area, two very strong teams on the national scene.”

Mann kicked off the final with 7 straight points, giving the BABC what would be its largest lead of the game.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Playaz led, 35-33.

The start of the second half was more of the same as the teams traded buckets.

“Defensively, we’re a full-court-pressure team,” Papile said. “They shoot the ball so well. When they beat our press, or advanced against our press, it was real difficult to locate the shooter. So, we decided to go 94 feet of man to man. That really turned them around.”

With 1.6 seconds to play and BABC up by 3, Playaz guard Ian Sistare was fouled attempting a tying 3-pointer. After making the first two free throws, he missed his third, and BABC collected the rebound to seal the win.

In addition to Mann’s 31 points, Jeremy Miller scored 12 for BABC and Bruce Brown chipped in 11.