The Newburgh boys’ basketball hit the road over the weekend, playing two tournament games in different parts of the state.

The Goldbacks began their journey Saturday at Uniondale High School, on Long Island, where they took on Long Island Lutheran Regional (LuHi).

Then Newburgh embarked on a trip to Albany on Sunday for another showcase against Section 2’s Niskayuna.

“We were road warriors,” Newburgh coach Jason McAllister said of the 365-mile round trip. “I’m not usually a fan of these back-to-backs, but it was some great competition in some great environments.”

Led by 22 points from Jaydan Lorenzo, including four 3-points, Newburgh clawed out a 65-61 victory over LuHi.

James Thorpe tacked on 13 points, while Elnathan Johnson scored nine, all on 3-pointers, including a pair of big shots in the fourth quarter.

Jakari Lamb added eight points, as Ryan Cameron and Bryce Marshall each had five.

“When you’re out on the road, I feel like that’s when your true character is tested,” McAllister said. “You don’t have the home crowd behind you, and you have to create your own energy.”

On Sunday, Newburgh faced a very different test in Niskayuna. While the Goldbacks were within striking distance most of the game, which was at the Washington Avenue Armory in downtown Albany, Niskayuna pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The Goldbacks dropped their second game of the weekend 64-45 to the Silver Warriors.

“The rim was very small for us today, but shoutout to Niskayuna, they executed when they needed to,” said McAllister, whose team was outscored 18-4 in the fourth quarter. “ It’s crazy how basketball works, where we cut it down to two points in the third, but then we ended up losing by 19.”

“It’s still good to be able to see this tough non-league competition, to get us ready for the season,” McAllister added. “We played a very tough, in-your-face LuHi Regional team on Saturday and a very good Niskayuna team [on Sunday]. They were both different ends of the spectrum, LUHI being more up-tempo and Niskayuna more about execution, it’s good to see different teams like that, early in the season.”

Sunday’s effort was led by Thorpe, who tallied 22 points, while Johnson contributed eight points. Lorenzo and Alejandro Florentino each tacked on four.

Newburgh began its season with a dominating 72-37 win over Minisink Valley on December 4, ahead of last weekend’s tournament games.

Niskayuna won’t be the only Section 2 the Goldbacks face this season. After facing Section 9 rival Kingston on Tuesday, Newburgh will host Schenectady at noon this Saturday, then visit Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday, December 30.

“We have a long, long season ahead of us,” McAllister said. “Now it’s just about learning from every game.”