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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 20, 2010
Week Five--White Division Matchup

Team Effort Propels Monroe Past Colonia, 58-48

By Greg Machos
January 20, 2010

MONROE, NJ--The second half of the season got underway on Wednesday evening for both Monroe and Colonia as the two went at it for the second time this season. The first time, the Patriots had an eleven point lead with less than three minutes to go only to lose the contest by three, 60-57. This time around, it would still be close until the Falcons pulled away in the fourth. Leading by only three late in the third, the Purple Birds got a breakaway layup by Timmy Brix to go up by five at 44-39 heading into the fourth. Then, Monroe got a three from the elder Brix, a senior forward at the 4:55 mark for a 49-42 lead, and layups by younger brother Danny Brix and Kenny Pace for a 53-44 lead with 2:37 to play. From there, the Falcons were never threatened as they won, 58-48 over the Patriots.

Timmy Brix led the way with a game high 16 points as he shot 7 of 11 from the floor including 2 of 3 from three point range while pulling down 10 boards, handing out an assist, and drawing a charge. Danny Brix and Pace each added 15 points as the younger Brix made 5 of 10 shots from the floor, and 5 of 6 at the foul line while Pace connected on 6 of 13 shots including a three, and 2 of 5 from the line. Danny Brix also had seven rebounds and three assists while Pace picked up 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Not to be outdone, sophomore point guard, Ahmid Williams did a splendid job running the Falcon offense and playing tough defense. Williams scored 8 points while also collecting 6 steals, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds. Blake Bascom (2 of 4 FG for 4 points, a rebound, assist, and a steal) and Zach Batchelor (4 rebounds and an assist) also contributed.

Colonia, which had nine different players get into the scoring column, was led by both C.J. Gray and Matt Wagner with nine points each. Gray connected on 4 of 8 shots including 1 of 2 from three point range while also picking up 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Wagner connected on three shots including two threes while going one of two from the line. He also collected two rebounds and two assists. Greg Jones and Justin Williams each chipped in with 8 points. Jones, a football standout, clicked on 4 of 9 shots from the floor, and grabbed four rebounds while Williams made 4 of 7 shots and picked up five boards. Dave Cole went 2 of 5 from the floor and 1 of 2 at the line for 5 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal, and a charge in the loss.

Monroe outscored Colonia in three of the four periods as the Falcons shot 23 of 50 from the floor including 3 of 13 from long distance while making 9 of 13 from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Patriots made 21 of 45 shots including 4 of 11 from beyond the arc. However, the Pats only went 2 of 4 from the foul line. Both teams handled the ball fairly well with Monroe getting a slight edge in turnovers (12-15). In other statistical areas, the Falcons held advantages in overall rebounds (27-26), assists (15-14), and steals (9-2) while the Patriots had an edge in blocks (2-0). Both teams drew a charge and pulled down seven offensive rebounds. Monroe, which made 6 of 14 shots while limitiing Colonia to just 3 of 10 shooting in the first period to take a 14-7 lead.

The Falcons jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the first 1:14 as Bascom, who scored all four of his points in the opening period, scored a layup right off the tip. Williams then drove in for another layup, and Pace capped the burst with an offensive rebound and follow. The Patriots tied things up at 6-6 though with four straight points including a jumper by Jones, who had four of the first six points of the game for CHS, and a jumper by Cole at the 5:36 mark. A minute and seven seconds later, Danny Brix put the Purple Birds ahead again when he was fouled on a drive, and made one of two from the lne for a 7-6 score at the 4:29 mark. Fellow sophomore, Williams followed with a steal for a layup to make the score, 9-6 at the 3:44 mark. A little more than a half minute later, Williams was at it again, only this time, he created the play with a kickout to Pace on the left wing for a three pointer, and a 12-6 lead with 3:11 to go in the first. After Wagner got on the board with one of two from the line, Bascom closed out the opening period scoring with a layup for a 14-7 lead.

Colonia answered the charge at the beginning of the second with a 7-2 spurt to open the period including a layup and a three pointe by Wagner, and an offensive rebound and follow by Justin Williams to pull within two at 16-14 with 6:18 remaining in the first half. Less than thirty seconds later, Gray got his only three pointer of the game on a jumper from the left side for a 17-16 lead as Monroe called for a 30 second timeout at the 5:51 mark. It would take nearly a minute after the stoppage for another score, but Pace ended the mini-drought by swiping a steal, and handing out an assist on a score by Timmy Brix for an 18-17 lead at the 4:56 mark. In a game that saw only four lead changes and a tie, the contest swung back and forth the most in the second with all four lead changes coming in the period. Lukas Zeimaitis (3 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks) dished to Justin Williams for a bank shot and a 19-18 lead at the 4:36 mark. Cole made one of two from the line at the 3:53 mark for a 20-18 lead before Pace came up with a three point play to give the Falcons the lead back at 21-20 with 3:28 to go in the half.

From that point on, Monroe would never relinquish the lead. On Colonia's very next possession, Ahmid Williams swiped a steal, and was fouled on the layup attempt, which produced two free throws, and a 23-20 lead at the 3:08 mark. The Purple Birds made it a 7-0 run as Timmy Brix scored on a putback of a Pace miss for a 25-20 lead as the Patriots called for time at the 2:37 mark. Following the 30 second timeout, the Patriots had to burn another just less than a minute later in order to avoid a five second call at the 1:39 mark. CHS would get a score to halt the Monroe spurt, but the Falcons went up by six as Williams kicked to Timmy Brix for a three pointer from the left corner for a 28-22 lead with a minute left in the half. The Pats then got another score to go into the locker room trailing by four, 28-24. At the break, Monroe, which was 4 of 12 from the floor in the second was 10 of 26 overall from the field in the first half while Colonia, which was 7 of 12 shooting in the second, was 10 of 22.

Monroe made up for that by hitting 6 of 7 from the line including a perfect 5 of 5 in the second period. Colonia was just 2 of 4. The Falcons forced ten first half turnovers while committing just seven. The Patriots had an overall edge in rebounding (12-9) while Monroe had more offensive boards (3-2). Both teams had balanced scoring with Justin Williams and Matt Wagner scoring six for Colonia while Cole chipped with all five of his points coming in the first 16 minutes. The Purple Birds got eight points from Pace while Timmy Brix chipped in with seven, and Ahmid Williams added six. In the third quarter, the back and forth play continued in terms of the scoring, but Monroe maintained the lead, which vacillated between three to six points in the frame. Both teams shot well as the Falcons made 8 of 17 shots while Colonia clicked on 7 of 14 from the floor.

With Monroe leading 36-32 at the 4:02 mark, Pace drew a foul on the drive, but failed to make both free throws. However, Colonia couldn't take advantage as Timmy Brix picked up his teammate by drawing a charge on Wagner at the 3:54 mark. The Falcons then went up by five on a 6-5 run over the next 2:16 that included scores by Timmy Brix, Danny Brix, and Williams for a 42-37 lead with 1:38 remaining in the third. Following a CHS timeout, the Pats pulled within three on a jumper by Nyaer Jackson (2 points), but Timmy Brix got his breakaway layup off a fine feed upcourt by Mike Mahmoud (an assist) for a 44-39 advantage heading into the fourth. At the beginning of the fourth, the Patriots pulled within four as Wagner got his final points of the game on a three pointer from the top of the key, but Timmy Brix replied promptly with a three of his own to make the score, 49-42 with 4:55 to play.

After a Colonia timeout, the Falcons scored four of the next six points including layups by Danny Brix and Pace for a 53-44 lead. The Pats called timeout again at the 2:37 mark, and got a jumper from Jones to pull within seven again, but Danny Brix made two foul shots with 2:19 to play for a 55-46 lead. The younger Brix then seal the win with a layup off an assist by Pace for a 57-46 lead with a minute to go. From there, Monroe went on to win by a final score of 58-48. With the victory, Monroe won its sixth straight game to improve to 10-2. The win marked the fifth straight season MTHS has had double digit victories. More importantly though, the Falcons improved to 7-1 in the GMC White, and 8-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, Colonia, which has now lost three straight, dropped to 2-8 overall including a 2-5 mark in divisional play. Read analysis on this game as well as thoughts on the other games played Wednesday in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.

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