Acalanes defeated Cardinal Newman 69-64 in their second game of the Rhodes Memorial Tournament Friday evening in Lafayette. Jaden McClane and Joe Reidenbach combined for 43 points and 21 rebounds to lead the way.
The game was neck-and-neck the whole way, with Newman’s three-point assault keeping pace with Acalanes low post game. Xavier Vigil from the opposing team lit it up in the first half from the perimeter, causing the Dons fits.
But Acalanes contained Vigil in the second half, and was at its best in crunch time at the end of the 3rd and 4th quarters. At the end of the 3rd, Matthew Bacon had an athletic blocked shot that was recovered by Ian Salmon who raced down the court and got the ball to Jaden McClane for a lay-up as time expired giving the Dons a 4 point lead.
The game was tied with 90 seconds left, which means it was Joe Reidenbach time. Joe scored a layup to put the Dons up 64-62, and then half a minute later scored again from short range to put the Dons up 66-64. Liam Krackeler, who had 10 points, added a baseline floater and a free throw in the last 20 seconds to ice the game for the Dons.
Acalanes improved its record to 2-3, and faces Berkeley High Saturday afternoon.