One common theme throughout the summer has been Salisbury’s inability to lock down defensively and come up with key stops when it needs to. That issue resurfaced this past weekend.

The Falcons went 0-3 on Friday and Saturday at the SportsFest “A-Town Throwdown” basketball tournament. A common issue in their tournament-ending 41-31 loss to Hershey was the defensive play.

“We just don’t get enough stops defensively,” head coach Jason Weaver said following Saturday’s loss to Hershey. “Then we get down, and we start forcing a little bit. I think if we developed some patience, we could get better shots. We’ve got guys that score. In all three of the games, we could compete with all three of the teams, [although] Becahi was missing some guys.”

While Salisbury did go winless in the tournament, it stayed competitive in a pool loaded talent. The Falcons were within six points of Bethlehem Catholic, arguably the top EPC squad heading into this winter season. Although the Hawks were without two of their top players, the Falcons had a chance to upset favored Becahi.

“That’s a game where we give up four points and we miss a lay up,” Weaver said. “Who knows? That’s a two-point game if everything goes in our favor. We don’t have much of a margin of error to win, and when we have those careless turnovers or we don’t get a big box out, that’s what gets us in trouble.”

The margin of error was slim against Hershey as well, yet countless turnovers late kept the Falcons out of it. After trailing 25-14 and 30-19 in the second half, Salisbury made a late surge.

A jumper from Sean Snyder cut Hershey’s lead to just seven points in the final minutes. Salisbury had a chance to slice it even more on the next possession, but the Falcons turned it over and Hershey connected on a three-point play on the other end.

“We’re way too careless with the basketball,” Weaver said. “The guys, as soon as they get it, they want to dribble first…as opposed to I’m going to grab it first, then I’ll see.”

One of the bright spots against Hershey was Quintin Stephen’s ability to get to the rim and finish. While only a sophomore, he provides the Falcons with someone who can attack the basket to compliment the surrounding shooters at the three-point line.

“He’s one of those guys that can get to the rim, and we need guys who can create a little bit,” Weaver said. “So, his ability to get to the basket has been huge for us. Obviously he’s getting to the line which is good, and obviously in a regular game with the clock stopped, that could help us in those situations. We have a lot of guys that can shoot, but we don’t have that many that actually attack the basket.”

Salisbury also lost to New Brunswick, 50-30, to open the tournament on Friday night.

Philadelphia-area team Sankofa defeated Emmaus for the championship on Sunday night, 62-59.