Nick Clark’s buzzer beater lifts the River Dell Varsity Boys Basketball Team past Cresskill in the Regular-Season Finale

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Boys Basketball team(13-13, 4-6 Big North Patriot) concluded the 2024-25 regular season and home finale in a dramatic 53-51 win over the Cresskill Cougars(12-14, 4-4 NJIC Patriot) on Nick Clark's spectacular one-handed buzzer beater shot at River Dell High School in Oradell, New Jersey.

Pat Sweeny scored 13 points for River Dell, Regan Joyce netted 11 points, and Nick Clark chipped in 10.

Nick Clark caught a pass in the backcourt with the score tied at 51-51 late in the fourth quarter. Clark proceeded to accelerate down the middle of the court and into the paint, where he released a phenomenal one-handed floater with a couple of Cresskill players standing right in front of him as the ball fell through the basket at the buzzer, setting off pandemonium in the stands. Clark jumped into the arms of teammate Aditya Pandya, and the rest of the team jumped into the dogpile.

"I knew at the end of the game I wanted to take the last shot," Nick Clark explained. "It was supposed to go to Aditya because they double teamed him." "Ryan(Rossig) threw the ball in the backcourt and I just made a move and put it up and went in."

"It was the seniors last game, and I wanted to make it great for them and they have done a lot for me, and I wanted to help them win that game." "I know that I didn't have enough time to pass it so I drove and put up a floater and it fell and I jumped into Aditya's arms and all my teammates around me and felt great and everybody was cheering and it was awesome."

Entering the final frame, River Dell led 38-32 after an impressive third quarter in which the Golden Hawks, with their unwavering determination, outscored Cresskill 18-7. Trailing 25-20 as the second half commenced, River erupted for a 7-0 run, a testament to their resilience.

After the Cougars reclaimed the advantage at 27-25, the Golden Hawks exploded for an 8-0 run. Regan Joyce netted six points in the quarter, while David Nunez and Pat Sweeny buried trifectas. River Dell amped up after Nick Clark converted a fast-break layup that resulted in a flagrant foul and sank two free throws.

However, the Cougars ignited a rebuttal and trimmed the deficit to 43-41 in five minutes. The Golden Hawks managed to halt Cresskill's momentum as Clark exhibited his speed and power on a pair of layups that kept River Dell ahead.

"I feel coming off the bench is obviously hard but watching the seniors then David(Nunez) and how he plays influences me to play harder," Nick Clark described. "I'm surrounded by great people and coaches and my trainer and AAU Coach Nico have helped me on different cylinders of the game and if it weren't for him, I would haven't made it this far and get a lot of playing time."

In the first half, the Golden Hawks came out of the gates on a solid note, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the early minutes of the first quarter, but the Cougars answered back as they demonstrated the ability to drive to the rim for layups and get to the free-throw line to take a 16-7 lead at the end of the period. River Dell was unable to contain the tandem of Omar Tal and Luke Kopczynski(14 points), who combined to score 11 points.

Cresskill extended their advantage to double digits at 22-9 in the second quarter on back-to-back triples from Jake Lewin and Liam Peleg.

The Golden Hawks finally got back into the offensive rhythm with a 5-0 blitz. Pat Sweeny was instrumental in the quarter, dropping seven points as River Dell narrowed the gap to 24-20 with a minute remaining.

"Coach(Ron) Van Saders said that we should win this game and we came out looking better and more aggressive," Nick Clark noted. "He's one of my favorite coaches and made the season fun and reason why we came back and became a better team and pushes us to become how great we can be."

River Dell now shifts the focus to the state playoffs, where they will face Montville(20-5, 12-0 NJIC National) in the first round of the North Jersey Section 1, Group 3 Tournament on Wednesday, February 26th, at Montville Township High School in Montville, New Jersey. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

The Golden Hawks are on a roll, having won seven out of their last eight games. This includes a tremendous run in the Bergen Invitational Tournament, where they pulled off three nail-biter victories and reached the semifinals.

"The BIT helped out a lot, and nobody thought we were supposed to be there," Nick Clark said. "That pushed our seniors, starters, and people coming off the bench to play even harder and made us win games and lit a fire under us."

"We have to focus a lot on practice Monday and Tuesday and watch a lot of film and what we have to get better at since it's win or go home."