Leading into their third game in three days, the energy surrounding the Bruins was remarkably high. Despite losing their first two contests, Geffen Academy still had confidence in the work they had put in, and were adamant to win their first match of the year. A back and forth contest to begin, a slew of new faces helped the Bruins rebuff SOCES (Sherman Oaks). Newly-minted freshman and varsity guard June Jee knocked down a couple of big-time jumpers, and as he’s done all year, ninth grader Ethan Hong continued his suffocating on-ball defense and collected no less than seven steals, resulting in easy baskets for the Bruins. Junior Nathan Muhumuza sustained his success, totaling eighteen points, eleven boards, and seven dimes to lead the Bruins on offense. And senior Jonathan Katz emerged in a large way, with a casual twelve points and nine rebounds, as well as manning the interior on the defensive end.

But as the second half got underway, things started to go awry for Geffen Academy. Despite his impressive numbers, Muhumuza committed nine turnovers, many of which led to points for SOCES. With thirty seconds to play and the Bruins locked in a tight battle, Katz elected to deviate from the play call and took an ill-advised mid-range pull-up from about seventeen feet. After Geffen Academy decided to prolong the game and fouled an opposing guard, the Bruins found themselves down two points with just over ten seconds to play. Junior Noah Saucedo, who had found his shot in the second half, found himself wide-open about three feet behind the three point arc with four seconds remaining. Saucedo, instead of shooting, gave the ball up to Muhumuza, who was hammered twenty five feet away from the basket. The foul, which occurred on the floor, gave Geffen Academy the ball side out of bounds with one second remaining. This was a crucial officiating blunder, as the Muhumuza should have been heading to the charity stripe for two free throws with Geffen Academy in the double bonus. Instead, Stevan Markovic was forced into an extremely difficult three pointer, in which he was both fading away from the basket and was crowded by two SOCES defenders. The shot was long, and SOCES held on to win a nail-biter.
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