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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 25, 2010
Week Six--Blue Division Showdown

Osofsky's Huge Second Half Help Chargers Defeat Trojans, 55-41

By Greg Machos
January 25, 2010

SPOTSWOOD, NJ--The huge showdown in the GMC Blue came down to a game of surges. In the end, the Spotswood Chargers had the most of them. Trailing by a score of 24-16 at halftime, Spotswood put together an 18-1 tear in the third period for a 34-25 lead, and led by as many as 17 in the second half en route to a 55-41 victory at the Spotswood Athletic Center. Tyler Osofsky, who has been putting up big numbers as of late, scored 25 of his game high 29 points in the second half to lead the Chargers in a 44-17 showing over the final two periods.

Osofsky, the last in a line of three brothers to play hoops at Spotswood (Dan and Bryan before), connected on 9 of 15 from the floor including a three pointer, and a perfect 10 of 10 from the line for his game high. Chipping in for the victors was fellow senior, Mike Liming, who registered a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Liming added five points in the decisive third quarter while fellow senior, Cody Pace, who scored 9 points in the game, was responsible for the other two points in the period.

Spotswood, which was 24 of 29 as a team from the foul line, connected on 11 field goals and three treys while Bishop Ahr made 15 field goals, a three pointer, and just eight foul shots. The Chargers outscored the Trojans in three of the four quarters. Rob Gomulka, a senior guard, scored 11 points for Bishop Ahr while Darius Griffin chipped in with 10, and Pat Widdoss added 8. The Chargers outrebounded the Trojans by a 31-22 margin and committed only 10 turnovers versus 17 by BGA.

The Chargers jumped out to a 12-7 lead with 1:29 to go in the first period. Manny Kroggmann (4 points) scored on a layup with 43 seconds to go before Pace closed out the scoring with two free throws for a 14-9 lead heading into the second. Spotswood got the first points of the period before Ahr roared out in front with a 15-0 tear over the final 6:30 or so to go up by eight at the half. Gomulka scored all 11 of his points during this stretch while Kroggmann got his final basket of the contest, and Kenny Virden got his only two points of the game.

Following a 30 second timeout by the Chargers at the 6:07 mark, Gomulka, who had scored prior to the timeout, swiped a steal and went in for a layup to close the gap to 16-13 with 5:28 left in the first half. On a subsequent possession, Griffin dished to Kroggmann for a layup that pulled the Trojans within one at 16-15 at the 4:30 mark. Virden then put the BGA in front with a score as he was fouled for a 17-16 lead with 3:35 to go in the half. Gomulka then went back to work with a three pointer from the right corner, and two layups to close out the first half scoring, and give the Trojans a 24-16 lead at the intermission.

The third quarter was all Spotswood's however. The Chargers connected on four field goals including a three pointer while making 9 of 10 from the foul line in the stanza. Osofsky began the surge with the first six points of the second half including two foul shots at the 7:06 mark, two more free throws at the 6:47 mark, and a layup off a feed by Pace at the 6:30 mark for a 24-22 Bishop Ahr lead. After a 30 second timeout by the Trojans, Liming picked up a steal, drove to the basket, and drew a foul that resulted in two free throws for a 24-24 tie at the 6:28 mark.

On the next Ahr possession, James Pareti (2 points) forced a steal, and made the save to Osofsky, who passed off to Liming for a layup attempt that drew another foul, and produced two more free throws for a 10-0 run, and a 26-24 lead at the 5:39 mark. The Chargers then scored seven more points as Pace got a layup, and Osofsky got his only three of the game in addition to another layup to make it a 17-0 run, and a 33-24 lead with 3:01 remaining in the period. Ahr had a chance to end the drought, but Gomulka missed two foul shots following a technical foul called on Spotswood.

With 1:44 left in the period, Liming grabbed an offensive rebound, and drew another foul that resulted in one of two from the foul line to cap the 18-0 outburst for a 34-24 lead. Widdoss then closed out the third period scoring with Ahr's only points coming on a one of two showing of his own from the foul line for a 34-25 Charger advantage heading into the fourth. Paced by Osofsky's 14 points in the final frame, Spotswood led by as many as 17 in the fourth. Allen Kuiper, who grabbed 13 rebounds in the win, got all three of his points at the line by going 3 of 4 from the charity stripe in the frame.

After the Chargers had scored 8 of the first 13 points of the fourth for a 42-30 lead, Kuiper stepped to the line, and made one of two at the five minute mark for a 43-30 edge. Thirty seconds later, Osofsky scored on a layup for a 45-30 lead, and then Kuiper netted two more from the line for a 47-30 lead after being intentionally fouled by Kroggmann at the 3:47 mark. Over the next 1:11, the Trojans tried to fight back by scoring six of seven points that trimmed the deficit to a dozen at 48-36. However, Bishop Ahr was unable to get any closer as the Chargers closed the game with a 7-5 edge over the last 2:36 for the 55-41 victory.

With the win, Spotswood has now won its seventh straight while snapping Ahr's eight game winning streak. The Chargers are now 11-1 overall on the season, 9-1 in conference play, and 8-1 in the GMC Blue. The Trojans drop to 10-2 overall, 8-1 in the GMC, and 7-1 in divisional play. Read analysis on this game in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere. Video highlights will be forthcoming.

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