Seamus Breslin enjoys being ‘defensive spark guy’ as Bulldogs hold off Muhls
If there were columns in the box score for selflessness, effort and team play, Seamus Breslin would be considered a stat-stuffer. The Wilson senior would lead the league in triple-doubles.
It’s easy to see who the leading scorers are in a basketball game. If you’re paying attention you don’t even need to look at the scorebook.
The guy making a game-changing impact on defense? That’s a little tougher to discern.
Breslin made it a little easier for folks at West Lawn Monday night to figure that out when he teamed up with Ofure Odiale to force a game-saving turnover in the final seconds as the Bulldogs held off Muhlenberg 39-36 in a taut Berks Conference Division I battle for second place.
“We were just trying to play hard defense,” Breslin said of the final sequence, when the Muhls (5-4, 13-7) came out of a timeout with 14.8 seconds left down one and looking to take the last shot. “That’s what we do all year.”
Breslin, a rangy 6-foot forward, picked up Luis Valentin on the right wing, then forced him back to the midcourt line. Ofure, a 6-4 center, dropped off his man to double. Ofure reached down and poked the ball into the backcourt where Breslin scrambled to retrieve it, then went in for a layup at the buzzer.
“We collapsed on him,” Breslin said matter-of-factly. “It was good defense all around.”
Breslin’s first assignment Monday was Xzayvion Robertson, the Muhls’ leading scorer and a guy who can drop 30 any given night.
When Robertson got in foul trouble and went to the bench late in the first half, then again in the third quarter, Breslin switched over to guard Valentin.
Defense has become Breslin’s calling card. It’s how he worked his way into the starting lineup after coming off the bench as a junior.
He realized that was his ticket to gaining more minutes, and he punched it. His hard work and relentless effort throughout the summer caught the attention of Bulldogs coach Matt Coldren.
“I may not be the best offensive guy,” Breslin said, “but I know I can contribute. I think I can guard a lot of positions.
“I think I (do) the intangibles that maybe other players don’t. When my number’s called to play defense, I don’t mind. I like shutting somebody down.”
Robertson didn’t score in the second half. Valentin had one basket after intermission. The Muhls finished 26 points below their average.
“We put him on the best player every game,” Coldren said. “I have trust in him. I’ll ask: ‘Which guy do you want?’ Tonight, he wanted Robertson. He did a great job on him. Seamus is a senior, and he cares, and he’s having one of those ‘senior moments.’ ”
After dropping two of their last three games, including a 13-point home loss to Exeter late last week, the Bulldogs (6-3, 14-5) needed this one badly.
The Muhls did, too. Like the Bulldogs they’re battling for playoff positioning and that’s exactly what both teams did: Battle.
It wasn’t pretty, especially at the end when there were five turnovers and just one basket over the final four minutes. In one wild sequence in the final minute the ball bounced around on the Muhlenberg side of the court like a bee-bee before the Muhls dove on it out of a wild scramble and called timeout with 14.8 left.
Grit and determination won the night. The Muhls didn’t score after Jay’Daniel Mosquera tied it with a 3-pointer with 4:03 left. The Bulldogs got a Cam Jones steal, and then a free throw, with 37 seconds left to take the lead for good.
“You had two good teams who both wanted to win desperately,” Coldren said. “What a hard-fought game. Both teams played their tails off. The ball bounced our way at the end and we got the win We needed it.”
“It’s tough to come in on a Monday and play a team that’s tough, that likes to shoot the ball, that plays hard, has a good coach,” Breslin said. “It’s definitely something we needed to take pride in. We needed to take a ‘W’ to stay where we want to stay.”
Reading High has already locked up the Berks I title. Wilson and Muhlenberg were playing for second place, though that’s not critical; each will make the Berks Conference playoffs, either as a runner-up or a wild card (by virtue of power rating).
The Muhls didn’t lead again after Mosquera’s 3-pointer to open the second period put them up 13-11 but they were in it the whole way. As tough as the Bulldogs made it for them to score, they returned the favor with an effective 3-2 zone and a three-quarters-court 1-2-2 trap that slowed Wilson down, holding it to its second-lowest scoring total of the season.
Mosquera finished with 16 points, Ofure had 13 and Breslin nine; no one else came close to matching their scoring average. The pace and the pressure wouldn’t allow it.
Breslin didn’t mind. He’s not into points, just results. He’s gotten plenty of them this season – more than he ever expected.
When Cam Jones came into the season hobbled by a football injury Coldren needed another starter. Breslin, he said, was an easy call.
“I knew he was capable of this,” the Bulldogs coach said. “He’s extremely tough, he’s athletic, and he’s a team guy. And you see what he’s doing. We put him on tough guys every night and he battles, he battles.”
“I was never really thinking about a starting spot,” Breslin admitted. “I was expecting to come in and be that ‘defensive spark’ guy. Getting a hard-fought ‘W’ (like this) is all I care about. The other stuff doesn’t matter to me.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 10 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 36 |
| Wilson | 11 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 39 |
| Muhls (13-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Robertson | 3-10 | 1-1 | 2-6 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Mosquera | 5-12 | 4-4 | 2-5 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
| Valentin | 2-9 | 3-3 | 0-4 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Adonis | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Alcantara | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Towles | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Branch | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Archie | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Collado | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 12-42 | 8-8 | 4-18 | 3 | 24-27 | 36 |
| Bulldogs (14-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Harding | 2-6 | 3-6 | 0-1 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
| Melograna | 1-8 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Odiale | 6-10 | 0-3 | 1-1 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Breslin | 3-6 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Jones | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Hunsicker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| McFadden | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-40 | 8-17 | 1-9 | 8 | 27-32 | 39 |
Turnovers: Muhlenberg 10, Wilson 9.
