LISBON — A new gym and a really big win made the Lisbon Greyhounds’ Friday night.
Ditto for fans on both sides of the gym.
The Lisbon Greyhounds fended off Monmouth Academy in a Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball game and came away with a 48-39 victory.
The roomy, pristine gym was undoubtedly an inspiration for the Greyhounds, who held it together that last couple of minutes in the fourth quarter.
When the Mustangs opened up on Lisbon after Monmouth coach Lucas Turner opened up on his team , the Mustangs inched back in final stanza.
“We executed at the end and made the plays that we needed to make, ” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “I thought we played well defensively. I thought Monmouth played really well defensively in the second half.
“They (the Mustangs) came out really on fire and they really cut into the lead. They are well coached. Lucas does a great job with them. It is always a fun game when we play them.”
Lisbon was holding on to a 40-35 lead with 5:40 to go when Hunter Richardson (11 points) and Luke Thombs (12 points) each scored with 1:05 left in the game to make it a 42-39 game in Lisbon’s favor.
At that point, Turner’s voice grew louder, with Mustangs breathing down the Greyhounds’ necks.
But the Greyhounds got a hold of themselves. Noah Carter (11 points) hit two free throws and Jonah Sautter, who had the hot hand with a game-high 19 points, scored on a breakaway layup and made good on one free throw to put Lisbon in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.
Tyrese Joseph topped it off with one free throw and Greyhounds were good to go for their first victory of the season.
“(Monmouth) played great,” Sautter said. “Last year, they pulled two on us. We stayed locked on defense the whole game, They didn’t give up. Lost it a little bit for five minutes, but we game back.”
In the first half, it was anybody’s game. Sautter nailed down three 3-pointers in the second quarter, helping give Lisbon a 24-16 lead.
In the third quarter, Lisbon brought down the house after it built a 37-24 lead going into the wild fourth quarter.
“My team was soft for three quarters,” Turner said. “I got up to the line, I started screaming and they finally woke up and we needed to stop them.
“Up until that point, they thought the front of the jersey was going to beat them. I think they just they were come in here in win.
“We did work hard at the end and made it a game. If we played like that four quarters, we probably would be in that situation.”
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