The last time the two teams met, the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks handed the Pine Bush boys’ basketball team a 50-point loss and the start of a five-game losing streak.

The second meeting between the two teams was quite different as the Bushmen squandered a 9-point lead before coming back to turn the tables on the Goldbacks and pull out a 67-62 victory on Wednesday.

“This is a great win,” said Jacob Santiago, who led the Bushmen with a team-high 19 points.” This is probably our biggest game so far, against arguably the best team in the section. It’s great to beat this team and show that we could compete with the best, and that we’re ready for sections.”

The Bushmen entered the final 80 seconds of the game, trailing by five points, but Evan Jaloszynski knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining in the game to pull the Bushmen to within two points.

“He’s a great shooter,” Santiago said. “I’m able to drive and he’s always there for a shot.”

Then, it was Santiago’s turn to shoot as he stepped behind the 3-point arc, launching what turned out to be the game-winner with 35 seconds remaining in the game. That put the Goldbacks in a position where they needed to foul the Bushmen to stop the clock, and Jaloszynski knocked down two and Derek Hickman hit two to finish the game.

“When we played them over there, they put it to us pretty badly,” Pine Bush coach Dan Conley said. “Without the big man (Deondre Johnson), it’s a credit to our kids as we fought to the end and we hit free throws at the end, which hasn’t been our M.O.”

The Bushmen took a 37-26 lead at halftime on the strength of a 28-point second quarter. The Goldbacks took a 9-point lead after the first quarter and widened the lead to 12 points on 3-pointer by Jayden Lorenzo, but then the Bushmen caught fire.

A basket by Derek Hickman started a 13-0 Bushmen run that ended with a 3-pointer by Santiago to give the Bushmen their first lead of the day, 21-20 with 5:20 left in the second quarter.

“It just started clicking,” Conley said. “Our bigs were working hard and we were getting looks and hitting some free throws. We didn’t have too many outside shots, but we were getting layups and put a little pressure on them.”

The run continued as Mason Miranowicz scored on a putback, as the Bushmen extended their lead to 31-20 with 2:03 left in the quarter.

“I think the big difference was mainly we were ready for them, and we didn’t underestimate them,” Santiago said. “The first game, we came out a little bit slow and we came out a little bit too confident. But this game, we didn’t play to their pace. We played to our pace, and we were able to get the dub.”

The Goldbacks came out on fire in the third quarter, cutting the Bushmen’s lead to two points with 6:52 left in the third quarter, and eventually tied the game at 48-48 on a free throw by Andre Crosby.

Jah’likai King, who led the Goldbacks with a game-high 38 points scored on a putback to give the Goldbacks a 50-48 lead, heading into the fourth quarter. The Goldbacks opened an eight-point lead with 1:44 in the game before Hickman started the Bushmen’s comeback, starting 12-0 run to the end of the game.

In addition to Santiago and Jaloszynski, the Bushmen had two others in double figures. Dion Cauthen scored 12 points and Derek Hickman had 10.

“We have a lot of strength,” Santiago said. “We got hustle and we didn’t let that previous game affect us. We let that affect this game and show we can hang.”

The Bushmen ran into trouble on Friday night, suffering a 56-43 loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders, as they were unable to contain Cameron Spears who hit five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 15 points. Jeremiah Arne scored 14 points.

Santiago led Pine Bush with 13 points and Derek Hickman had 10.