Glendale High boys’ basketball stopped by Arcadia

GLENDALE — Despite being without two of its starters because of injury, the Glendale High boys’ basketball team looked to persevere.

Glendale found itself pitted against Arcadia for the third time in less than two months with the Nitros having won the first two meetings.

Unfortunately for Glendale, it couldn’t complete the series sweep as it suffered a 71-69 Pacific League home defeat Wednesday.

Glendale’s Eddie Uluchyan drove to the basket for a game-tying layup, but the shot hit the bottom of the rim just before the buzzer sounded.

“I’m happy with the last possession because we at least got it all the way to the rim,” said Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress, whose team dropped to 8-15, 3-8 in league. “The ball just didn’t settle in.

“The story of this game was that we gave up 71 points. Arcadia deserved to win. I’m surprised we even got that close.”

Glendale competed without junior forward Alex Miralis (concussion) and junior guard Eric Kirakosian (hand) against Arcadia (4-18, 1-10). Snodgress said it wasn’t clear if one or both players would return for the final three games of the regular season.

“They are both big parts of the team,” said Snodgress, who received a team-high 21 points from Uluchyan. “Again, give Arcadia credit for shooting lights-out.

“We were not on our game and some things didn’t go so well.”

Arcadia, which snapped a 10-game losing streak, held a 37-31 halftime advantage. It took a 56-48 lead when Brandon Hardy grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a layup as the third quarter expired.

Glendale pulled to within 65-62 on am off-balance three-pointer by senior guard Stephan Arakelyan with 3:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Nitros closed to within 71-69 on a spinning layup by senior center Arthur Terzyan with 19.3 seconds left.

Glendale then caught a break on Arcadia’s ensuing possession when the Apaches threw the ball out of bounds near the Glendale basket with 8.3 seconds remaining. However, the Nitros couldn’t get the equalizing basket.

Terzyan and Arakelyan finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

The Nitros picked up a 55-50 victory against the Apaches on Dec. 21 at the La Cañada High Tournament. Glendale then posted a 50-49 league road win Jan. 15.

Glendale will next participate in a league road game at 7 p.m. Friday versus Muir.