Elmont boys basketball's Nassir Edwards scores 17 points, lifts Spartans to league title with overtime win
Nassir Edwards #11 of Elmont drives to the basket around Jake Kenyon #3 of Roslyn during a League AA-V boys basketball game at Elmont on Monday February 10, 2025 Credit: David Meisenholder
Check box No. 1 for the reigning state Class AA boys basketball champions.
With the Nassau League AA-V title on the line, Elmont trailed after each of the first three quarters and was tied with Roslyn as regulation concluded in Monday’s slugfest.
But the host Spartans played championship defense in the four-minute extra session, allowing just two points in the first 3:44 of overtime to prevail with a 55-49 victory over the Bulldogs. Elmont outscored Roslyn 13-7 in overtime to clinch the AA-V crown.
“The next game we play is going to be the next check, and after that, hopefully the next check,” Elmont coach Ryan Straub said. “But we’re just going to keep playing, practicing game by game and who knows what can happen? We have a special group here.”
Senior forward Nassir Edwards scored 17 points, senior guard Arlyn Brown added 13 and senior center Ebubenna Nwabudu had 12 for Elmont (17-3, 13-1). Brown had six points in overtime and Nwabudu had five.
Elmont opened overtime on a 13-2 run and led 55-44 with 27.5 seconds left.
“The difference about this year is that we don’t really have one main guy who takes all the shots, but we have a lot of dogs,” Brown said. “A lot of guys who are ready to fight and battle all the time.”
Nwabudu said: “We’re trying to just build a culture. From last year, that was to start it. We’re just trying to build a culture for now, for the future and beyond.”
Senior forward Zach Kuppersmith had a season-high 25 points for Roslyn (15-5, 11-3), including 10 in a fourth quarter that featured seven lead changes.
Kuppersmith hit a free throw to extend Roslyn’s lead to 40-38 with 1:26 left in regulation. Brown made a layup to tie it 10 seconds later and Edwards followed with a layup to give Elmont a 42-40 lead with 45.5 seconds remaining. Kuppersmith answered five seconds later with a transition layup to tie it at 42.
Brown’s potential go-ahead jumper missed with 4.4 seconds left. Kuppersmith’s ensuing half-court heave hit the ceiling with 0.5 seconds left, giving Elmont one last fourth-quarter chance — an alley-oop layup that was missed by Edwards at the buzzer.
“We’re a different team [from last season], but with the same identity,” Straub said. “We’re going to lock up on defense and just play our tails off, and we will trust what happens from there. But this group might be a little bit scrappier than last year. So, hey, as long as we have the heart and the hustle and all that, we’re going to be in good shape.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
