HATFIELD - With time winding down and his team clinging to a three-point lead, sophomore guard Derek McMahon threw his hands in the passing lane at the ideal moment, knocking down an Easthampton pass before scooping it up and getting intentionally fouled as he raced down the court.

McMahon nailed both free throws with 22.3 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game, and hit two more after an inbounds pass to essentially ice the game for Smith Academy, which prevailed over Easthampton 49-41 Monday.

"I knew Casey (White) was trying to look for a shot. We were up three I believe, so I knew that he was going to look for a 3," McMahon said. "I didn't play as well as I would have liked to defensively, so I just thought that if I (could) get that steal I could make up for something I didn't do earlier."

McMahon scored a team-high 13 points in a contest that featured scrappy 2-3 zone defenses on both ends of the court.

He was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, including his four key makes in the final 23 seconds. McMahon also dished out four assists, grabbed four rebounds, snagged two steals and blocked a shot for the Falcons (12-3, 11-2 Hampshire West).

Smith Academy head coach Matt Zerneri was relieved to come away with the victory over a much-improved Easthampton (10-5, 8-5 Hampshire East) team than what the Falcons faced earlier this season. The Falcons won by 23 points on Dec. 30.

"It helps build confidence and we're just glad we came out on top," Zerneri said.

He credited his team's execution of their 2-3 zone defense as a key reason for their victory.

"It's all about communication. We got to know where the guys who can shoot and score are, and we were going to shift that zone toward them," Zerneri said. "As long as they have their hands up, they can get hands in passing lanes and make it look like we're actually a lot taller and bigger than we are."

The Falcons struck first, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after the first three minutes before the Eagles got on the board with two free throws courtesy of junior center Chris Starcun.

McMahon dished one of his four assists immediately after to squelch any of the Eagles' momentum by driving directly at the lone defender on a two-on-one before flicking the ball behind him to junior center Seaver Rickert for an easy layup. Rickert provided a physical presence down low all game, finishing with a double-double of 10 points and 20 crucial rebounds.

McMahon, who runs the point of the Falcons' attack, is a key distributor and usually jump-starts the offense with his pure speed and slick passing.

"I'm looking for mismatches, open guys and looking for who's hot," McMahon said.

The two leading scorers for both teams, junior guard Mat Sulda (Smith Academy) and White, were held in check by stifling team defense on either side. Sulda (matching season-low 12 points) was held to five first-half points, while White (season-low 13 points) managed only seven.

White's "going to get open looks, he's going to knock them down, and that's part of the game, but you've got to make him work for every shot that he's going to have and hopefully it wears him down," said Zerneri.

Sulda is now just 33 points away from reaching 1,000 career points.

The Eagles snatched their first lead of the game with just under seven minutes to play in the first half after a White 3 made it 14-12. But after building a five-point lead, they quickly squandered it as the Falcons came roaring back to tie the game thanks to a 3-pointer from Sulda with approximately 4:30 remaining in the half.

The Falcons took a 24-17 lead into halftime and survived a run in the third quarter by the Eagles behind the strong play of senior guard Jeff VanOudenhove.

VanOudenhove (game-high 16 points) hit two consecutive 3s early in the second half, then made two free throws to tie the game at 26.

The game was tied once more at 28 apiece before the Falcons seized control. With under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Sulda drove to the basket before squeezing a tight bounce pass to Keith Natale (eight points, 12 rebounds) for a layup and the foul. Natale's converted free throw brought the Falcons' lead up to five.

The Falcons built as much as a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Eagles began chipping away. Easthampton narrowed its deficit to 43-41 with 1:20 remaining after VanOudenhove hit an off-balance shot.

Rickert hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game on the Falcons' next possession.

With his team down by three, White finally got an open look off of a screen at the top of the arch with about 40 seconds left, but he was unable to convert. The rebound caromed into the hands of an Eagle, however, which gave them one last chance.

Coming out of a timeout, the Eagles never got a shot off due to McMahon's aware hands.

"I've seen us play better, but (Easthampton's) a good team. They're going to make teams play differently, but we've got to overcome that. We've can't let teams make us play down, we've got to make them come up to us," McMahon said after the game.