Winning close games is starting to become one of the trademarks of the Greenwich High School boys basketball team, which is on quite a roll with the postseason approaching.

The Cardinals followed a three-point road win over Newtown by edging FCIAC foe Fairfield Warde in a one-point, Senior Night thriller on Feb. 17.

Receiving a game-high 25 points from senior point guard/captain Matt Maloney and 18 points from junior shooting guard Sandro Scott, Greenwich held on to defeat Fairfield Warde, 59-58, for its fourth consecutive victory.

Greenwich, which closes out its regular season at Brien McMahon on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., has an overall record of 11-8 and an FCIAC mark of 9-5. It is currently in fifth place in the FCIAC, while Fairfield Warde is in fourth place with a conference record of 10-4. The FCIAC Basketball Tournament begins on Feb. 22 at Fairfield Warde and includes the conference’s top eight-seeded teams.

In the Cardinals’ close call triumph against the Mustangs, they held an 18-13 lead after the first quarter and were ahead, 31-27, at halftime. The third quarter concluded with the Cardinals up 44-35. The Mustangs then outscored GHS, 23-15, in the fourth quarter, which came down to a final shot.

“We’ve struggled at the end of games in the past this season and down the stretch in these past seven games, we’ve had a few games – Newtown was a game that was close at the end, so we have some experience on our part,” Maloney said of the Cardinals’ recent success in close games. “We got in our sets and we executed.”

Warde was led by senior center Jack Cramer, who posted 24 points – 12 in each half of action. Greenwich held a 59-58 and Warde had possession with 3.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter under its own basket. The Mustangs took a final shot, but missed and the Cardinals pulled out the win.

“We knew Cramer was going to get it, we played him solid, he put up a shot and it was off the rim,” Maloney said of the game’s last shot. “

Senior captain Oliver Suppo made two free throws, giving GHS a 58-55 edge with 16.5 seconds left to play. Ward senior guard Ryan Moore converted a pair of foul shots with 12.3 seconds to go, making it 58-57. Maloney then hit a foul shot with 11 seconds left and Mustangs senior guard Aidan Shea made one free throw, making the score 59-58 with 3.6 to go in the fourth quarter.

“That’s what the fans come to see, close games like that,” Greenwich head coach Bill Brehm said.

Senior forward/guard/captain Blake Martin scored eight points, six of which came in the first quarter for the Cardinals, whose lone loss during their last eight games was a one-point defeat on the road versus Ridgefield.

“We started out the season with so much adversity,” Brehm noted. “We didn’t have a gym, we had football players going to the state championship, we had injuries. We kept preaching, get through adversity, it helps you become a young man and if you stay the course, you’re going to do good things.”

The Cards led 18-13 following the first quarter, then the Mustangs scored the first five points of the second quarter to even it at 18-18. Maloney swished a 3-pointer from the right corner, converted a layup and hit another 3-point shot, this time from the top of the key, putting the hosts ahead, 26-22 later in the second stanza.

A 3-pointer from the left side made it 31-22 in favor of the Cardinals at halftime. Indeed, GHS displayed stellar ball movement while executing their plays well throughout the opening half.

“We just try to be as unselfish as possible,” Scott said. “Get the ball, move it around, hit the big man and if we’re open take the shot.”

The ‘big man’, that Scott mentioned is junior 6-foot-6 center Michael Golden, who scored four points and played strong defense in the low post for the Cards. The Mustangs ended the second quarter with a 5-0 run and pulled to within 31-29 on a Cramer layup to start the second half.

Baskets by Shea and senior Ryan Moore gave Fairfield Warde a 33-31 advantage, prompting a Greenwich timeout. Following the timeout, Martin tied up the score with a basket, then Scott swished a 3-pointer from the left corner, putting GHS ahead, 36-33. Maloney’s shot from beyond the arc capped a 9-0 Cards’ spurt, giving the hosts a 44-35 lead heading into the final quarter.

Maloney scored 17 first-half points, including three 3-pointers. He made four 3-point shots for the game. Scott paced Greenwich’s second-half scoring, totaling 12 of his 18 points. In the third quarter, Scott made a two 3-pointers.

Shea scored nine points and Moore had eight points to complement Cramer’s 24-point effort for visiting Warde.

“It feels great, like Matt said, we had trouble in the past closing games out, like St. Joe’s, that was one that really hurt us, but with all this experience it’s made it easier to close out games,” Scott said.

Greenwich enters the FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 22 at Fairfield Warde as one of the squads that’s on the rise in the conference.

“We started the season out slow and when we kept going, we built chemistry,” Scott noted. “We’ve got confidence and we’re going to keep going forward. We didn’t make it last year or the year before, so it feels great to make FCIACs.”

Greenwich has defeated Amity, Staples, Stamford, Newtown and Fairfield Warde in games decided by six points or less.

“It’s going to be helpful down the road, it’s going to be helpful just to have that experience,” GHS assistant coach Billy Murphy said of the team being successful in tight games.

Maloney, Martin, Suppo, Guy Germain and Bryce Atkins were the seniors honored on Senior Night by the Cardinals.

“From the first Ludlowe game (a loss) to now, it’s like night and day – an amazing improvement,” Maloney noted.