Boys Basketball: Brother Rice outlasts Mount Carmel

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Updated: February 10, 2012 8:32AM

With former Bears great Richard Dent in attendance Friday night at Mount Carmel, the Caravan, and the player he came to see, Alex Austin, were hoping to put up a Hall of Fame-worthy performance.

Austin didn’t disappoint, pumping in a team-high 20 points, but that wasn’t enough for the Caravan, which fell 73-56 to No. 9 Brother Rice.

An 8-0 run to start that half for the Crusaders (11-4, 4-0 Catholic League South) put them in control at 43-31. They built that lead to 55-42 at the end of three and 71-49 with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left in the game.

“Garrett O’Neill did a real good job of finding Alex Majewski under the basket, and that’s when we were able to pull away,” Brother Rice coach Pat Richardson said. “Our guards know that if they are being pressured they have to look inside.”

Majewski scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, while O’Neill finished with eight assists. Sean Fitzpatrick hit three of his four three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Billy Patterson added 11 points for the Caravan (3-11, 1-3).

“I’ve known Alex and his family for a long time,” Dent said. “My mom was friends with his grandmother and I know his mom very well. He had a quiet 20 points tonight and I enjoyed watching him.”