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GMC Hoops Summaries--February 5, 2010
Week Seven--Red Division Clash

Third Quarter Spurt Helps Bears Overcome Vikings, 45-37

By Greg Machos
February 5, 2010

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ--What a difference three weeks make. On January 14th, these two teams played at East Brunswick with the Bears winning easily (62-26). This time, it was a much different story. South Brunswick outscored EB in three of the four quarters played by a combined margin of three points. However, the Bears, ranked fifth in the current GMC Hoops Top Ten, won the decisive third quarter by a 16-5 margin to earn the hard fought, 45-37 victory. Trailing 23-21 at the half, East Brunswick started the second half with an 11-0 spurt over the first 4:30 of the third for a 32-23 lead.

South Brunswick began the fourth with a 7-2 flurry to pull within two at 39-35 with 4:39 to play, but the Bears scored five straight points over the next 3:37 for a 44-35 lead, and went on to win by eight. Joe Ross, who scored two layups during the late 5-0 burst that sealed the victory, led EB with a team high 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting including one of three from long distance along with a one of two showing at the foul line. Ross, a sophomore, also picked up two assists, a rebound, and a steal. Junior guard, Anthony Guisti, contributed off the bench with 9 points on three of five from beyond the arc along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block. Guisti had two threes in the decisive third period.

Sophomore forward, Mike Summerer and senior forward Kevin Lantz each had 6 points in the win. Summerer was a perfect 3 of 3 from the floor while Lantz made two of three shots from the floor and the line. Lantz also collected 10 rebounds as well as an assist and a steal. Meanwhile, for South Brunswick, sophomore Jevon Tyree led all scorers with a game high 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5 of 5 from the line. Tyree, who also plays football, also collected three assists and a steal. Fellow sophomore, Mike Green added 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals while sophomore forward Mike Muha picked up 10 boards to go along with his three points, assist, and steal.

For the game, East Brunswick shot 18 of 40 from the floor for 45 percent including 5 of 17 from downtown while South Brunswick was 14 of 42 for 33 percent including one of seven from beyond the arc. The Bears were only 4 of 12 from the line while the Vikings were 8 of 9 at the charity stripe. In other statistical areas, EB had fewer turnovers (9-15), more assists (11-7), and charges (1-0) while SBHS had more total rebounds (26-25), offensive boards (12-8), steals (7-5), and blocks (3-1). Both teams shot the ball fairly well in the first period as the Vikes made five of its ten shots in the opening frame while the Bears connected on four of six including two of four from three point range. Each team had three turnovers. South Brunswick led by as many as four points in the period while EB only had the lead once.

The Vikings drew first blood as Tyree drove past Mauro Tucci (2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a charge) for a layup and a 2-0 lead. South Brunswick added another score for a 4-0 lead before Tucci got his only points of the game on a layup at the 3:05 mark. Ross then gave EB its only lead of the first half when he faked a pass to his left, and put up a three pointer for a 5-4 score at the 2:44 mark. Freshmen T.J. Taylor (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block) and junior Malik Davis-Bey (2 points, 2 rebounds, and a block) added scores for an 8-5 lead before Summerer got on the board with an offensive rebound and follow at the 1:45 mark for an 8-7 Vikings lead as they called a 30 second timeout.

Muha got his only points of the game when he got the offensive board off a Taylor miss, and put in the follow as he was fouled for a traditional three point play, and an 11-7 lead with 1:01 remaining in the first. Dan Sclafani (3 points and 2 assists) got his only points of the game for EB when he connected from beyond the arc to close the gap to 11-10 after one period. Moses Railey (2 of 4 FGs for 4 points and a block) opened the second with a score for a 13-10 Vikings lead while John Genco missed two free throws for the Bears at the 6:08 mark. However, his teammates would pick him up as senior Miles Colmon (2 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist) kicked out to Guisti for a three pointer that tied the game up at 13-13 with 5:10 remaining in the first half.

Following a 30 second timeout by the Vikings at the 4:26 mark, Muha hustled for a great save that ended up in the hands of Tyree, who then passed to Railey for the bucket and the foul. Railey missed the bonus free throw, but the Vikings were back out in front by two at 15-13 with 4:04 to play in the first half. Green then added two free throws at the 3:42 mark for a 17-13 lead. Kevin McHenry (an assist) then passed to Summerer for a foul line jumper at the 3:20 mark for a 17-15 score before South Brunswick took its biggest lead of the game at 21-15 with a 4-0 burst that consisted of a tip-in by Tyree and a layup by Taylor with 2:15 to play before the intermission. East Brunswick closed the half with six of the final eight points to trail at the break by two.

Lantz started the late second quarter run with a steal and a drive that drew a foul, and produced two free throws at the 1:33 mark. Lantz then added an offensive rebound and follow, and a layup off an assist by freshman Robert Ukawuba (3 points, 5 rebounds, an assists) to close the gap to 23-21 at halftime. Tyree, who was 4 of 6 in the first half for eight points, got the only Viking points during the stretch with a bucket for a 23-19 lead. He also added three assists and a rebound while Lantz had all six of his points in the game in just a little more than a minute and a half. He also pulled down four first half rebounds in addition to his steal. Both teams shot the ball fairly well in the first half with the Bears going 8 of 17 for 47 percent while the Vikes were 10 of 21 for 48 percent.

EB managed to stay in the game thanks to a 9-0 edge in points off of three pointers. The visitors from East Brunswick were 3 of 10 from long range while South Brunswick was 0 of 2. The Vikings had a slight edge in free throws going 3 of 4 versus only 2 of 4 for EBHS. Turnovers were fairly close with the Bears holding a slight edge (5-7). The Vikings held the advantage in total rebounds (12-6) including a 6-1 edge in offensive boards. The Vikes also held edges in assists (6-4), steals (4-3), and blocks (2-0). Neither team drew a charge over the first two quarters. The third period was all East Brunswick as the Bears shut down the Viking offense by holding it two five points consisting of a field goal and three foul shots. Tyree had all five Viking points in the third.

EBHS opened the second half with an 11-0 spurt that began with a baseline jumper from the left side by Ukawuba and a fake and dribble for a jumper from the left wing by Ross to take a 25-23 lead at the 7:04 mark. Thomore then added a layup at the 6:41 mark for a 27-23 lead as South Brunswick called for time. Thomore then added an offensive rebound and follow, and Guisti capped the run with a three pointer from the top of the key off an inbounds by Sclafani for a 32-23 lead at the 3:30 mark. The Vikings didn't get on the board until the 2:27 mark of the third when Tyree registered a conventional three point play to close the gap to six at 32-26, but Guisti negated that with a three pointer from the right wing at the 2:16 mark to make the score, 35-26. Tyree then made two free throws at the 1:05 mark before the Bears closed out the period with a field goal for a 37-28 lead heading into the fourth.

The fourth started promising for SBHS as it scored seven of the first nine points to close within four. Green had five of those points including a drive for a floater at the 7:08 mark to make the score, 37-30, and then a three pointer at the 4:39 mark to pull his team to within two scores at 39-35. Summerer got a basket as he was fouled at the 6:41 mark to account for the only East Brunswick scoring during this stretch. Following a 30 second timeout by the Vikings at the 4:05 mark, and a full timeout by the Bears with 3:34 remaining, Tucci dished to Ross for a layup, and a 41-35 lead at the 3:06 mark. Ukawuba then drove in from the left wing, and drew a foul that resulted in one of two from the line, and a 42-35 advantage with 2:21 left. Ross then sealed the win with another layup off an assist by Guisti with a little more than a minute to go. Tyree then sank two foul shots to help close out the scoring.

With the 45-37 victory, East Brunswick improved to 16-3 overall on the season including a 14-3 mark in conference play, and a 12-2 record in the GMC Red. South Brunswick falls to 8-9 overall and in the GMC including a 7-7 mark in divisional play. The win also put EB in a first place tie with Monroe in the GMC Hoops Trophy standings. The Bears still have an outside chance of catching St. Joseph's, but they need to win out including a victory at home over the Falcons next week, and then get some help in the form of another St. Joe's loss to get a share of the Red Division crown. EB has Piscataway on Monday night, and St. Joe's on Wednesday evening next week. Analysis will be forthcoming in the blog.

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