After suffering six straight losses, all of which saw John F. Kennedy’s boys basketball team score fewer than 50 points, the Bears finally broke through last Friday with its 68-45 win over the Eden Raiders in an ECIC Division IV contest.

The visiting Bears did most of their damage in the middle two quarters, when they outscored Eden by a 40-16 margin to push its small first-quarter lead to a 56-28 advantage heading into the final stanza. The Bears, who came into this contest averaging 22 turnovers a game, finished with just 14, and improved their shooting from both the floor (27-of-57 field goals) and foul line (14-of-22).

“Our goal coming in to this game was to play more of an up-tempo style, and our guys did a really good job of playing the full floor,” coach Tony Krupski said. “Our defensive energy and pressure really never gave Eden a chance to establish any type of rhythm on offense, and our offensive transition was the best it has been all year.”

Junior guard Nick Anderson led the Bears with a career-high 23 points to go along with eight steals and seven rebounds. Senior forward Ben Zaccagnino added 12 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two assists, while senior co-captain Jimmy Quinn (three rebounds, two assists) — and juniors Eric Cartenuto (two steals) and Joey Burkowski (six rebounds, three assists, two steals) — each nearly missed double digits as they split 24 points.

The Bears had started their week by hosting Lackawanna January 18 in what would ultimately be a 55-50 loss. The Steelers, usually a perennial power, entered the game with an identical 1-4 league mark as the Bears, but it was the Steelers who looked eager to set the tone early behind their typical full-court pressure. The Steelers outscored the Bears, 20-4, in the second quarter to stretch their 15-10 first-quarter advantage to 35-14 at the intermission.

JFK came to life in the second half, applying some defensive pressure of its own and forcing the Steelers into quick shots and turnovers. Unfortunately the Bears, who shot just 32 percent from the field, missed several shots and could only outscore the Steelers by two points, 12-10, in the third quarter. However, with Lackawanna leading 45-26 to start the fourth quarter, the momentum had clearly shifted to JFK.

The Bears continued to trap and force more turnovers and bad shots, and on offense, JFK started converting some of these chances into points. Quinn (five rebounds, five steals, two assists) got hot, hitting three trifectas while scoring 13 of his 15 points for the game in the frame. Despite outscoring Lackawanna by a 24-10 margin for the quarter, the Bears’ rally fell just short.

Anderson finished with a game-high 16 points for JFK to go along with six rebounds and four steals. Ben Zaccagnino contributed nine points, six rebounds and three steals, while Christian Boettcher chipped in with four points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

JFK (4-7, 2-5 division) returned to action Tuesday against Depew, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Bears will resume league play Tuesday at Holland.