When the final horn sounded, the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks survived their encounter with the Middletown Middies.

The Middies had closed to within one point with 34 seconds remaining in the game, but James Thorpe rebounded two key misses and Ryan Cameron hit two free throws and Legend Jones hit another as the Goldbacks escaped with a 56-52 win in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division I boys’ basketball game on Friday at Newburgh Free Academy.

“It was a good, hard-fought game,” Thorpe said. “We came through at the end and we pulled it off.”

Thorpe was a big reason the Goldbacks pulled it off as he scored 11 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter. He was most active on the boards, pulling down 15 rebounds for a double double.

“James came a long way,” Newburgh coach Jason McAllister said. “He still has a long way to go, but he’s super active. He’s one of the most skilled players on our team. Once he realizes he’s one of the best players in the gym, his game will elevate even more. He’s a great kid to coach.”

The Goldbacks entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, and Thorpe scored on a putback to give the Goldbacks a three-point lead. He added another two points on a jump shot, giving Newburgh a 44-39 lead with 6:41 left in the game.

“I was just being physical,” Thorpe said.

“They were doing a lot of bumping and stuff. So, we had to be physical back. That was really it.”

Jakari Lamb gave the Goldbacks their largest lead of the quarter when he hit a layup to give his team a 52-46 lead with 3:09 remaining.

But with the Goldbacks leading by five points with 1:05 left in the game, the Middies went on a run.

Middletown’s Rudy Cherry scored on a putback, and Isaac Marban turned a steal into a transition basket to pull the Middies to within a point with 34 seconds remaining.

“We just had to stay focused,” Thorpe said.

“Just believe in what we do in practice and coming out and doing it.”

It was Thorpe’s rebounds and the key foul shots at the end that got the Goldbacks out of the gym with the win. It pushes the Goldbacks’ overall record to 4-2 and it keeps them at an unbeaten 2-0 in the division before Monday’s key matchup against the unbeaten Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders.

“Talk about survival,” McAllister said. “We got out of here by the hairs of our chinny chin chin. But a win is a win, and a conference win is a win. We’re just happy to get out of there.”

It’s been difficult for the Goldbacks to get into a flow, having played only five games in December. The Middies, however, have played 13.

“I feel pretty good right now,” Thorpe said. “We’ve still got a lot of improvement to do.

I’m just ready for the next game.”