Through three quarters Tuesday, Josh Kozinski was Edwardsburg’s offense in its boys basketball game against Buchanan.

In the fourth quarter, Kozinski’s teammates got involved and those contributions sparked the Eddies to a 54-51 comeback win over the Bucks.

“I thought our kids did a good job of not giving up, being resilient, and hanging in there,” said Edwardsburg coach Dan Gunn, whose team improved to 6-1.

Kozinski, who finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, scored 22 of Edwardsburg’s 28 points entering the fourth quarter. Behind its tough defense, Buchanan led the Eddies, 49-41, after getting a three-point play from Kevin Dey with 2:02 left in the game.

Momentum then shifted quickly to Edwardsburg as the Eddies went on a 13-2 run to finish the game. Edwardsburg took the lead for good at 52-51 with :24 left on an assist from Kozinski to Patrick Harvey, who drove to the basket and scored. Harvey scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter.

Buchanan then turned the ball over with :12.3 remaining. It was the sixth fourth quarter turnover for the Bucks. Jason Schimpa then was fouled and hit two free throws to give the Eddies a 54-51 lead with :08.1 left. Schimpa scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

“Certainly, we had to get a few breaks at the end to win the game,” Gunn said. “But, we were up where we were suppose to be defensively.”

With no timeouts, Buchanan inbounded the ball and eventually got a wide open 3-pointer from Doug Freeman, whose shot went well over the rim as time expired.

“We didn’t execute down the stretch like we needed to,” said Buchanan coach Reid McBeth, whose squad dropped to 4-3. “It’s unfortunate for us because we played a great basketball game up to the last 30 seconds.”

Free throw shooting also determined the outcome of the game in the fourth quarter. Edwardsburg went 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, while Buchanan was only 7-for-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter with another foul shot disallowed because of a lane violation.

“We didn’t knock some free throws down, down the stretch,” McBeth said.

Dey scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Bucks, who led 35-28 after three quarters. Justin Henderson added 11 points.

Edwardsburg freshman Dante Razzano scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter. His steal and basket gave the Eddies a 50-49 lead with :52 left.

“That was a heck of a play,” Gunn said. “Dante Razzano is going to be a good one. He works hard and I was glad to see that (steal and basket) work for him.”

Edwardsburg had all 20 of its turnovers through three quarters.

Doug Freeman’s steal and dunk for Buchanan started a 7-0 run to end the third quarter for the Bucks.

“You got to take your hat off to Buchanan and the tenacity that they played defense tonight,” Gunn said. “Their coach really does a good job with them.”

The first half featured six ties and four lead changes with the two teams being tied at 19 at halftime. Five points was the biggest lead in the first half, which was owned by the Eddies at 17-12.

 

BUCHANAN 51

Lyman Thomas 0, Dallis Reynolds 6, Alex Leiter 1, Kevin Dey 16, Tyler Flynn 7, Justin Henderson 11, Doug Freeman 7, Blake Graber 3, Brandon Gillam 0. TOTALS: 17 13-22 51

EDWARDSBURG 54

Josh Kozinski 24, Patrick Harvey 8, Eric Richardson 2, Matt Griesinger 2, Jason Schimpa 7, Grant Szalewski 0, Dylan Hulett 0, Jackson Gaideski 4, Dante Razzano 7, Joe Queener 0. TOTALS: 20 7-9 54

 

Buchanan 7 19 35 51

Edwardsburg 7 19 28 54

3-point goals: Buchanan 4 (Dey, Flynn, Henderson, Graber), Edwardsburg 7 (Kozinski 4, Harvey, Schimpa, Razzano). Total fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 15 (none), Edwardsburg 26 (none). Shooting: Buchanan 17-of-36 for 47-percent, Edwardsburg 2-of-43 for 46-percent. Rebounding: Buchanan 17 (Dey 7), Edwardsburg 24 (Kozinski 8). Turnovers: Buchanan 19, Edwardsburg 20