Two nights before its final regular-season encounter with archrival Skaneateles, the Marcellus boys basketball team nearly took another tumble.
The Mustangs improved to 16-3 on the season, but needed some late heroics from Will Nolan to rescue a 56-54 victory over Solvay.
Despite a 5-13 record, Solvay had nearly upset Hannibal earlier in the week, and didn’t get rattled when the Mustangs got hot in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 23-8 to seize a 35-22 halftime lead.
Led by Andrew Lucio, whose 21 points included five 3-pointers, the Bearcats ate into that Marcellus lead throughout the second half, ultimately catching up at 54-54 as regulation time wound down.
Not wanting to be dragged into overtime, Nolan rescued the night when he hit a go-ahead basket in the closing seconds, something Solvay could not answer.
For the night, Nolan had 17 points, with Scott Cotter close behind as he earned 15 points. Dan Heil had eight points and Joe Cornish added seven points. Aside from Lucio, Dan Aiello (11 points) and Devanere Surrey (10 points) also broke into double figures on Solvay’s behalf.
