Medford Tech guts out win over Burlington Twp.

With 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the third quarter, Medford Tech's Gregory Lawson went to the line to shoot two free throws.

Lawson made the first shot. He missed the second.

On the miss, Lawson charged the rim, muscled his way through three defenders, grabbed the rebound and, with arms swatting in front of him, put the shot back in for a layup.

The play was a nice symbol of the Jaguars' 78-76 home win over visiting Burlington Township on Friday night in an interdivision Burlington County League game.

Medford Tech had to grind it out from the opening tip, fight and claw for every point, and withstand a relentless defensive effort by the Falcons.

"It was a good win tonight. We fought hard," said Medford Tech coach Nick Powell, whose team improved to 11-2. "But we do need to play sharper. We're nowhere near where we need to be or want to be yet."

Lawson, who fouled out with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, finished with 17 points. Devonte Carey paced the Jaguars with 29, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Despite a gutsy fourth quarter, Powell noted that his team needs to be sharper when facing the type of full-court trap that the Falcons ran for most of the second half.

Medford Tech entered the final quarter up by 57-51.

With both teams running at a frantic pace, the Jaguars built a lead as large as eight with a little more than four minutes to play.

But a 6-2 run by the Falcons made the score 70-67 with a bit more than two minutes left.

From there, it came down to free throws and defense for Medford Tech.

"It just felt really good to come away with the win," said Carey, who hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final two minutes. "We all just played great tonight. We shot well, we played good defense, and we just kept them from taking the game from us."

Medford Tech went into halftime down by 35-32.

Burlington Township (11-4) played well in both the opening and closing minutes of the first half.

With Medford Tech struggling to hit shots in the opening minutes, the Falcons jumped to a 6-2 lead with 4:24 left in the first quarter.

But the effects of Medford Tech's man-press defense began to show late in the period. The Jaguars went on a 6-2 run and ended the quarter ahead, 18-13.

Medford Tech built a lead as large as nine midway through the second quarter.

The Falcons, though, managed to gain ground late in the half. Jalon Wilson (10 points) hit two threes in the final 24 seconds to send the Falcons into the locker room with the lead.

Medford Tech quickly took the lead back in the third quarter. The Jaguars opened the half on an 11-0 run, capped by Lawson putting back his own free throw to give his team a 43-35 lead.

"We've been down for a couple years now, so it feels great to come away with the win and continue to have success this year," Carey said.

Burlington Township   13 22 16 25 – 76

Medford Tech   18 14 25 21 – 78

BT: David Coulanges 16, Remi Odulana 10, Danny Rodriguez 15, Avery Holliday 13, Jalon Wilson 10, Demetrius Tilley 5, Keenan Dickson 4, Kristoff Smith 3.

MT: Devonte Carey 29, Donte Martinez 10, Gregory Lawson 17, Khalik Sutton 2, Lamine Cooper 13, Kennedy Chukwuocha 6, Donte Ali 1.