No. 2 Gill St. Bernard's withstands first-half rally by No. 2 Montgomery, pulls away for 64-53 win

This week is a Murderer’s Row in Somerset County boys’ basketball for a number of teams.

Montgomery had Rutgers Prep Tuesday and Gill St. Bernard’s Thursday, with Gill also getting Rutgers Prep Saturday.

And don’t forget about Bridgewater-Raritan next week, hosting Rutgers Prep on Tuesday.

But Thursday night in Skillman belonged to Gill St. Bernard’s, which got 11 points from Jahmal Dixon in the first quarter to build a ten point lead against Montgomery, enough for the Knights to keep the Cougars at bay after a late first-half rally. Dixon finished with 22 in the game to lead all scorers

It was also a bittersweet night for Ethan Lin, who led Montgomery. The senior – a Penn commit – tied the Cougar boys’ scoring record in the second quarter, and broke it on a buzzer-beating three before the half that capped a rally to bring his team within 31-30 at the break.

But in the second half, the Knights’ defense became a bit more suffocating, and they used an 18-9 third quarter advantage to pull away, eventually winning 64-53, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Beyond Dixon, Prosper Highlander finished with 16 for the Knights (9-2, 4-0 Skyland Delaware).

Lin finished with 17 to lead Montgomery (8-3, 0-2 Skyland Delaware), which has dropped three straight to positively brutal competition, including to Linden by two over the weekend, and Rutgers Prep on Tuesday. He now has 1,355 points, breaking the mark of 1,344 held by Maurice Bahr, a record he set 50 years ago, in a 26-2 season in 1975-76.