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Lyd It Up: Lydon’s 38 Points Carry Rumson to Rivalry Win

Matt Manley|December 19, 2025|Last Updated December 19, 2025

RED BANK — Halfway through Thursday’s rivalry game between Rumson-Fair Haven and host Red Bank Catholic, Rumson was on pace to win the game with 38 points.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Rumson senior Luke Lydon had the number by himself and his Bulldogs team needed just about every one of those points to remain undefeated to open the 2025-26 season.

Lydon erupted for a career-high 38 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, to carry the offensive load for the No. 3 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 as the Bulldogs dealt No. 10 Red Bank Catholic its first loss of the season, 53-46.

For the game, Lydon shot 11-for-20 from the field, 6-for-12 from three-point range and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, while also adding a pair of assists and a pair of steals to his stat-line.

“We knew it was a rivalry game,” Lydon said. “We came out, we knew we had something to prove. We’re a gritty group in there and we just love playing with each other and enjoying each other’s successes.”

Rumson-Fair Haven senior Luke Lydon (0) and Red Bank Catholic junior Gavin Biasi chase after a loose ball. (Photo: Patrick Olivero) - Rumson at RBC

Rumson-Fair Haven senior Luke Lydon (0) and Red Bank Catholic junior Gavin Biasi chase after a loose ball. (Photo: Patrick Olivero)

During the fourth quarter alone, Lydon shot 5-for-6 from the field, 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, which spear-headed a 26-17 quarter for Rumson and nearly doubled the Bulldogs’ point total for the game. In the final 1:02 alone, Lydon went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, hitting his last seven to put the game on ice and cap his memorable scoring performance.

Even through three quarters, Lydon was responsible for the bulk of Rumson’s scoring, which was only 27 points but was still enough to keep the Bulldogs within two points of the Caseys heading to the fourth. Lydon scored 17 of Rumson’s 27 points through three quarters, including 12 of its 19 before halftime.

“It’s what a kid dreams of,” Lydon said. “You’re sitting in school and today is going so slow. We can’t wait to come out here in front of the whole school to play a rivalry game. To hear that crowd going, you almost enter a flow state where everything goes your way and that’s the way it felt today.”

“When you have elite athletes, regardless of what sport they play, whenever they play a sport, the elite athletes usually find ways,” Rumson coach George Sourlis said of Lydon. “That’s what’s different about them and we have a lot of them. You need guys to make plays and we have multiple guys who can make plays and tonight, Lydon was awesome.”

A Boston University Lacrosse commit, Lydon has starred for the one of the Shore’s top boys lacrosse programs and a year ago, he earned his way into the starting lineup on the basketball court, where he averaged eight points per game. Thursday’s performance nearly doubled Lydon’s previous career high, which he set last season when he scored 20 in a win over then-defending NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III champion Freehold Boro.

“It all goes back to my teammates trusting me,” Lydon said. “Every time I shot it, whether it went in or it went out, they were talking to me, telling me to keep shooting, thinking those positive thoughts.”

Lydon then hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to open the fourth quarter and after junior Ryder Ciorciari hit one of two free throws to trim the Rumson lead to 33-30, Lydon connected on his third straight three-pointer attempt of the quarter and fourth straight made three-pointer attempt tracking back to the third quarter.

Red Bank Catholic junior Gavin Biasi led the Caseys with 17 points and hit a contested three-pointer that cut Rumson’s lead in half, 36-33, with under four minutes to play. Lydon responded with a jumper for his 16th straight Rumson point to push the lead to 38-33 and made it 19 of his team’s points in a row by converting a three-point play that gave Rumson a 41-33 lead.

Junior Casey Moore ended the streak of Rumson points scored by Lydon at 19 with a shot off the glass for a 43-35 Bulldogs lead. That was the final field goal the Bulldogs would need, as they shot 10-for-12 down the stretch to shut down any hopes of an RBC comeback. Moore finished with five points, eight rebounds and four assists to back up Lydon’s effort.

Rumson started the game on a 7-0 run before RBC trimmed it to 10-8 by the end of the first quarter, capped by a contested, double-clutch three-pointer off the glass by Biasi. Lydon scored the first seven points of the second quarter for Rumson, including a three-pointers to regain the lead for the Bulldogs at 17-15. He then assisted a layup by freshman Clint Martin that gave Rumson its 19-18 that it took to halftime.

“We didn’t do much well tonight as a team, but I’m proud of them because they kept playing,” Sourlis said. “We got punched in the mouth a few times and I give RBC credit, because they played great. We just happened to make a few more shots than they did. It’s a great win for us, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Senior James Hankowski was RBC’s second-leading scorer Thursday with 12 points on four three-pointers. Junior Tyler Hager added six points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for the Caseys.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to coach Sourlis and the coaching staff,” Lydon said. “We went into film and we had every play, every one of their sets, every out-of-bounds — we had that all down. We came in knowing what we were doing and we let the game come to us.”

Rumson improved to 3-0 and picked up its first win of 2025-26 vs. a team ranked in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 despite missing 6-foot-9 senior forward Luke Cruz for a third straight game due to a foot injury, confirmed by Sourlis. Cruz’s return date is yet to be determined and Sourlis said the team plans to be cautious with Cruz, whom Sourlis said would likely be playing if he had the same level of discomfort during the postseason.

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us,” Sourlis said. “We still think we have a really good team, even without (Cruz), but we’re excited about the team we are going to be with him, which is coming. The fact that our guys aren’t feeling sorry for themselves says a lot about our team. It’s exciting looking ahead.”

Red Bank Catholic junior Tyler Hager blocks a shot by Rumson-Fair Haven junior Casey Moore. (Photo: Patrick Olivero) - Rumson at RBC

(Photo: Patrick Olivero)

Cruz was a Shore Sports Insider All-Shore player in 2025-26, but Rumson got by without him again on Thursday thanks to a performance not seen by the Bulldogs in recent year, but familiar to Sourlis. In each of the last two seasons, as the coach of Red Bank Regional, Sourlis watched Zayier Dean author both of the 30-plus-point games in his career at Red Bank Catholic — both of which were a product of huge fourth quarters in Red Bank wins.

“Cruz is out guy, there is no doubt about it,” Lydon said. “He is one of the best players in the Shore. When he went down, we obviously felt bad for him but we just had that next-man-up mentality. Zach Halpern and Blake Ahmann came out and played a great game. They had a big kid (Hager) down there and I thought they played great. Some calls didn’t go their way and they never let up. They kept trusting their teammates and we just feed off that. We love each other out there and that showed today.”

Unlike Red Bank in the last two years, Rumson has not fared as well playing at RBC, which had won its last five home games vs. the Bulldogs dating back to the last time Rumson beat the Caseys on the road during the 2019-20 season. The two teams do not share a Shore Conference division this season, so there are no division title implications attached to Thursday’s result. Still, Rumson’s players found it significant to win on the road inside a gym that has not been kind to the Bulldogs — all while missing the team’s most accomplished player.

“We don’t know what it is, but we were never able to get one done here,” Lydon said. “Just knowing that my teammates trusted me with the ball is all I needed today and it showed out there today.”

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