LIVINGSTON, NJ—The Livingston Lancers and Caldwell Chiefs are two premier teams in the Super Essex Conference-Colonial Division and on Tuesday night, February 9, the two teams faced each other for the third time this season.  This time, Livingston won 40-38. 

In the first contest on January 12, Caldwell led for majority of the game.  A fourth quarter run by Livingston made the game close but the Chiefs ended up winning 47-41.

In the preliminary round of the Essex County Tournament on January 30, both teams battled all game and like the first matchup of the season, Caldwell prevailed on a game winning layup by senior guard Mike Fess 49-47.

Tuesday night was a different story as Livingston came out on top 40-38 in yet another back-and-forth battle between the two Colonial Division squads.

"We have lost some close games this season. Our last two games (Newark Academy and Caldwell) have been down-to-the-wire and it has help build our team," junior captain Matt Fung said.

Livingston upset Newark Academy 48-47 last Thursday and that game, as well as Tuesday night’s game, ended the Lancers’ tendency of folding late in games.

Livingston controlled the first half as Sam Abam and Dan Abrahams led the Lancers in driving to the basket and finishing. Abam finished with 12 points and Abrahams with eight. The Lancers took a 21-13 lead into halftime.

For the first four minutes of the second half, Livingston increased its eight point lead to ten when Sam White hit scored a layup making the score 27-17.

With Caldwell senior guard Mike Fess out with a hip injury, this put pressure on other Caldwell players to rise to the occasion. The only Caldwell player to respond was sophomore Dave Levsinky. He guided the Chiefs on an 11-6 third quarter run.

Livingston held the versatile Levinsky to five points in the first half but he was unstoppable in the second half as he scored 16 points.

Levinsky’s hot shooting put Caldwell in front with four minutes to go in the fourth.

Livingston head coach Dave Cohen then made a key decision as he chose to sub sophomore Marc Schofel in the game.  Schofel is one of Livingston’s best 3-point shooters and has little varsity experience but he did not let the situation affect him. With the Lancers down four, Schofel hit a 3-pointer and all momentum shifted to Livingston. From then on, they never looked back.

Matt Fung hit two clutch free throws with 20 seconds remaining and on the defensive side, Livingston played smart basketball.

Coach Dave Cohen knew the Lancers had five fouls to give and they used them all in their attempt to not let Caldwell get a good shot off.  However, with two seconds to go, junior forward Connor Smith inbounded the ball to Levinsky and his 3-point attempt hit the back of the rim and bounced out.

"These back-and-fourth down-to-the-wire games are good for the team. It builds character," Livingston head coach Dave Cohen said. "We have been in every game this year and I think that really says something about this team and the group of guys we have. It is especially great when we come out of these games on top."