By Steve Mandelbaum

It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but the Aces got the job done on Thursday night, grinding out a 56-44 road win against Ridley. The Aces led most of the way, but didn’t break it open until finding a groove in third quarter. Credit goes to a young, scrappy Raiders team that clearly didn’t want to go away. With the win, the Aces notched a season-sweep over a well-respected rival and a tenth straight victory overall.

After falling behind 13-7 in the first quarter, the Aces battled back and eventually took a 14-13 lead at the end of the frame thanks to an Oliver Cohen three-pointer. Ridley would later tie the game, but would never re-gain the lead. In the third quarter, the Aces pushed the margin to double digits and went into the fourth up by ten. The Aces led by as many as 15 in the final frame.

Senior Greg Robbins and junior Alon Seltzer paced the Aces with 16 points apiece. Robbins tallied his points in limited minutes due to early foul trouble, but did manage to provide one of the highlights of the night; an aggressive baseline drive that ended in a one-handed slam. Seltzer knocked down four treys on the night. Senior Harley Williamson scored 12 points and had 7 blocks, helping to limit Ridley’s 6’8 star junior Cameron Gunter to nine points. Senior Vince Weldon -- it seems as though it is almost running theme -- was able to play lockdown defense, joining junior Nick Bibbs as defensive aces for the Aces. Cohen finished the night with nine points. JJ Hoffstein, Matt McKenna, Conor Foote, Mike Joseph and Joe Moran also saw time for LM.

Perhaps the best performance of the evening was that of senior Dawg Pound members Ben Caplan and Dan Greenspan, who led a particularly loud and large LM student section. The Dawg Pound continues to pick up steam as the season progresses and no doubt their efforts tonight helped push the Aces over the top.

The Aces will travel down Lancaster Avenue on Saturday for a 3:30 PM match-up with perennial state power Coatesville at Villanova’s Pavillion.

Box Score:

Lower Merion: 14 11 14 17 – 56

Ridley:              13  8   8  15 – 44

LM: Greg Robbins 16, Alon Seltzer 16, Harley Williamson 12, Oliver Cohen 9, Matt McKenna 3.

R: Marc Dziadon 13, Kevin Garling 10, Cameron Gunter 9, Colin Masterson 4, Norm Donkin 4, Kevin Bonnes 2, Dan Staiber 2.