Check the summaries of all the games played in the Elizabeth Summer League, and periodically peek at the summary archive for scores and highlights as the summer progresses.

GMC Hoops Summaries--Thursday, July 1, 2004
Elizabeth Summer League--Week One

South Brunswick Holds Off Rahway In Double Overtime, 55-52

It was quite an exciting start to the summer at the 2004 Elizabeth Summer League. The opening night games, which were moved over to the Dunn Center, had several nice endings. First, and foremost, the GMC team that was out focus for the evening, South Brunswick won an exciting game in double overtime, 55-52 over Rahway after the Indians rallied late in the second half with a 15-6 spurt in the fourth quarter to tie things up at the end of regulation, 46-46.

Meanwhile, in a couple earlier games, Nazareth of Brooklyn, a member of the New York City Catholic League, came from behind to pull out the win against St. Peter's of Staten Island, 53-51, after St. Peter's held a 47-39 lead with 6:53 left in the game. At the same time on another court, Summit had grabbed a late 40-36 lead before Curtis of New York forced overtime with two scores in the final 0:30 including a layup as time expired.

However, the Hilltoppers still managed to prevail with a 5-2 edge in the extra session for the 45-42 victory. In the other nightcap on the court adjacent to the main court where the South Brunswick and Rahway contest was being held. Hillside jumped out to an early 30-13 halftime lead, and were never really threatened although Elizabeth, playing without the services of point guard Corey Williams, put together a nice late rally to make things respectable. The Comets from the Mountain Valley Conference cruised to a 53-38 win over the Minutemen.

Returning to our feature game, South Brunswick dominated things early with a solid first half that consisted of trademark Turco defense, poise and patience on offense, and several clutch shots fromt the perimeter. The Vikings, which played much more like a team than Rahway did, jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 7:23 to go in the first quarter. South Brunswick then added to that lead as well as to Rahway's frustration with a 9-3 spurt over the next 4:11 to take what seemed to be a commanding 15-5 lead with 3:12 left in the first quarter.

Both teams then closed out the first quarter with a pair of baskets as the Vikes stayed in control, 19-9 after one. The start of the second quarter saw the Indians try to climb back into the matchup with a 6-4 run over the first 3:45 to make the score 23-15 with 6:15 remaining in the half. Then, after both teams traded three point baskets, Rahway closed the gap ever further with a 4-3 edge over the final 5:47 of the half to make it 29-22 at the break.

At the beginning of the second half, South Brunswick attempted to put the game away with a 6-3 run to open the third quarter scoring for a 38-25 lead. Rahway would respond though with two straight baskets to cut the lead back to 38-29 with 4:24 left to play in the third. Both teams then closed out the stanza with a bucket apiece as the Vikings increased their halftime lead of seven to nine points after three quarters, 40-31.

After South Brunswick opened the final period with a score to make it 42-31, Rahway began to make their big push with a 4-2 run to cut the lead again to nine at 44-35 with 7:08 remaining as the Indians called for time. Rahway, which appeared to have the advantage coming into the game with their athleticism and quickness, cut the lead down to five with 5:23 as South Brunswick called for time following two more Indian baskets to make the score 44-39.

Rahway then appeared not only to get another score, but get their supporters into the game with a fast break dunk, but it was nullified as a Viking player managed to draw an offensive foul on the play with 4:30 to go in regulation. Nevertheless, Rahway, a member of the Mountain Valley Conference, crept even closer with another 4-0 run to make it a 44-43 South Brunswick lead with two minutes remaining. Nick Fazio then attempted to give South Brunswick breathing room when he hit a clutch jumper from the right side of the foul line to make it 46-43 with 1:20 to play.

The Indians got the lead down to one with a pair of free throws at the 54 second mark of the fourth quarter to make it 46-45. Then with time running out, Rahway's defense stepped up and made a big play by getting a steal. The Indians then tried to convert the turnover into a layup, but missed as South Brunswick got down their quickly on defense. However, the Indians were able to get the rebound off a loose ball, and draw a foul. Rahway then tied the game up with 14 seconds to play at 46-46 on one of two free throws from the foul line.

South Brunswick had one last change to pull out the game in regulation when they got the ball underneath Rahway's basket with four seconds to play. However, after Rahway deflected an inbounds pass out of bounds, an attempted lob to Viking soon to be senior center, Dan Stonkus, came up empty, and the teams went to overtime. The extra sessions, which were only two minutes in length saw the Vikings go right to their big man, Stonkus, and he got going with a score inside and a block in the first 38 seconds of the first overtime as the game remained tied at 48-48 with 1:22 remaining.

After South Brunswick took a 50-48 lead, Rahway again tied things back up at 50-50 with 0:48 left in the first extra session after the Indians got a putback off a missed free throw. Despite both teams having opportunities down the final 48 seconds, neither ballclub could pull the game out as we went to double overtime. In the second overtime, the Vikings again went early to Stonkus, and he delivered with a turnaround baseline jumper for a 52-50 lead with 1:30 left. Then, the big man, who is in the midst of having a very busy summer basketball wise, scored again down on the right low block with 0:55 to play for a 54-52 lead after Rahway got its final score of the game on a previous possesion.

With 13 seconds left in double overtime, the Vikings got 1 of 2 free throws to take a 55-52 lead, and after Rahway missed the front end of a one and one, and was unable to connect from three point land to force another overtime, South Brunswick emerged victorious with the 55-52 victory to open the summer 1-0 while the Indians dropped to 0-1. See the latest standings and scores. Note: We learned on Thursday that Barringer of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, has dropped out of the league leaving only twelve teams competing. The schedule has been reworked, and we'll have it for you shortly.

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