The Fort Lee Bridgemen took advantage of two late technical fouls, earning their first win of the season in a come-from-behind 42-39 victory against the Mahwah Thunderbolts.

The win also secures Fort Lee another game on Sunday against Montclair as Mahwah was eliminated from the Jack Reilly Boys Basketball Tournament.

After going 0-4 to start the year, the Bridgemen were ecstatic to get the win.

"We needed a win in 2010," said Fort Lee coach John Ziemba. "I know we have a tough team to play on Sunday, but we needed this win so bad."

To begin the night, Fort Lee held Mahwah to just five points in the first quarter, something many of the players attributed to the return of senior forward George Padin.

"It helped us a lot, and our team defense got a lot closer," said Josh Ford, the freshman guard. "He is the main focus on our team. He did everything."

Padin sat for the conference-mandated twelve days after suffering a concussion in the season opener, and the captain was just glad to be back on the floor.

"You can only do so much from the bench," Padin said. "To be in the game and to get everyone on the same page on defense was great."

The Bridgemen increased the lead to a game-high eight points in the second quarter, but the Thunderbirds rallied to tie the score at 18 entering halftime. Fort Lee went the final five minutes of the quarter without scoring.

"We were still tied at the half," said Padin. "That is still the least amount of points we've allowed at the half."

Exiting the break, both teams came out looking for the advantage, but it was Mahwah that jumped ahead 30-26 entering the final quarter.

As the game progressed, the physicality increased as the fouls became harder and more players were hitting the floor. That was never more evident than in the fourth quarter when the intensity boiled to a new high.

With 1:08 left on the clock, Mahwah led 39-36 when senior guard Jim Deer fouled Josh Ford for his fifth and final foul. On his way to the bench, Deer received a technical foul for yelling out an expletive, handing Fort Lee a golden opportunity.

Ford made a free throw to pull the team within two points, and Nick Gentile made both of his attempts to tie the game.

On the inbound, Gentile was fouled and Mahwah was issued another technical foul for the reaction to the call. A Thunderbolts fan was also ejected from the gym after the play.

Gentile remained calm and made three of the four free throws for the 42-39 lead. Mahwah then used a trio of timeouts to advance the ball up the floor.

With 2.9 seconds remaining, senior guard Mark Glicini missed his game-tying three pointer as Fort Lee players stormed the court to celebrate.

"We were going to foul," admitted Ziemba. "We whiffed on the foul, and from my angle I thought [the shot] was going in. We kept composure, and we sort of stole a game. We played hard and put ourselves in a position to be there, but the two technical fouls obviously helped us." 

The Fort Lee Bridgemen now advance to play Montclair after the Bulldogs beat Snyder 57-30 earlier in the afternoon. In the night games, Old Tappan defeated Wayne Hills 50-36, and St. Mary's narrowly edged Orange 48-45.

The games are now set for Sunday with Fort Lee and Montclair starting the action at noon. Following that contest, Wayne Hills and Orange will play in the consolation game at 1:45 p.m. with the championship game featuring Old Tappan and St. Mary's set for 3:30.