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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 24, 2012
Week Six--White Division Clash

Genevieve Leads The Way As Falcons Surge Past Edison, 65-57

By Greg Machos
January 24, 2012

EDISON, NJ--After losing five of their last six games, the Monroe Falcons were looking to get a win on the board when they traveled over to Edison High School on Tuesday night. Things didn't look good for a while either for the Purple Birds. Following an 18-6 second quarter tear by the Eagles for a 33-24 halftime lead, Monroe gave up two scores in the first minute and a half of the third to trail by 13. The Falcons would respond though, and get the much needed victory.

Led by senior guard, Ryan Genevieve, who scored 16 of his game high 24 points in the final 10:11 of the contest, and junior forward, Chuka Onukwugha, who chipped in with 6 of his 8 points in the final period, Monroe rallied with a 41-20 surge over the last 14:32 of the game to pull out the 65-57 victory in a GMC White Division contest. Ryan Stolte added 10 points in the victory including two pairs of free throws over the final 5:24 of the game while Victor Sorrento also contributed with 8 points.

Leading the way in a losing cause for Edison was senior guard, Kevin Luckenbach, who scored a team high 17 points on six field goals and five foul shots. Football standout Amir Brown continues to make a strong impact on the Eagles with 11 points in the contest. Marcus Cudjoe also added 11 for the home team while Qassim Bass-Ali chipped in with 8. Edison had a 21-13 advantage in two point field goals, but Monroe outscored the Eagles by a 21-6 margin in points scored from beyond the arc, and by an 18-9 margin at the charity stripe.

The Falcons outscored the Eagles in two of the four quarters played with the third ending in a 16-16 tie. The fourth quarter turned out to be the big difference though as Monroe outscored Edison by a margin of 25-8 for the win. The Purple Birds had more players get into the scoring column (7-6), but the Eagles had more players in double figures (3-2). Genevieve made three of his five three pointers in the game and sank 7 of 9 from the line over the final 10:11 of the contest. MTHS jumped out to an 18-15 first quarter lead before Edison surged in the second to go ahead by nine at the intermission.

The Eagles picked up right where they left off in the first half with the first two scores of the third. After a lull in the scoring of about a minute, Edison got on the board thanks to a putback by Amir Brown at the 6:58 mark. Following a defensive stop at the other end, EHS took its biggest lead of the game when Jeff Renner (4 points) got an offensive rebound, and put in the follow for a 37-24 advantage with less than a minute and a half gone by in the second half. Nick Isola began the Falcon turnaround by getting to the line for two free throws at the 6:19 mark. Reserve Nick Wolfson then followed with a three from the left wing at the 5:32 mark to narrow the deficit to 37-29.

On its next possession, Edison caught a break when Bass-Ali drove in for a dunk, but missed. Renner was there for the rebound though, and gave it back to Bass-Ali for a layup and a 39-29 advantage with just over five minutes to go in the period. Both teams then exchanged steals before Stolte fed Josh Polefka for a layup at the 4:40 mark. Luckenbach gave the Eagles a nine point lead again at 40-31 when he made one of two from the foul line prior to an EHS timeout at the 4:17 mark. Edison's lead then vacillated between 7 and 9 points for a bit until the end of the third when Genevieve struck for the first of his three treys down the stretch on a shot from the left wing with 11 seconds remaining in the third for a 46-40 Eagles lead. Moments later though, Cudjoe responded with a trey of his own from the right side that beat the buzzer for a 49-40 advantage entering the fourth.

Still hanging around, Monroe went right on the attack at the start of the fourth with the first seven points of the frame in just over a minute's time. Genevieve sparked the spurt with another three from the left wing at the 7;43 mark, and then Onukwugha and Isola followed with layups at the 7:19 and 6:56 marks to pull the Falcons within two at 49-47. Luckenbach gave the Eagles some much needed breathing room with a pull up jumper from the right side at the 6:39 mark, but then Genevieve pulled the visitors to within one at 51-50 at the 6:26 mark. Monroe then completed the 13-2 tear to open the final period with two free throws by Stolte at the 5:24 mark for a 52-51 lead, and one of two from the charity stripe by Genevieve for a 53-51 lead with just under five minutes to play.

Following a 30 second timeout with under four and a half minutes to play, the Eagles tied the game at 53-53 when Luckenbach scored on a layup at the 4:01 mark. Genevieve gave the Falcons the lead again with two free throws at the 3:47 mark, but then Cudjoe tied the contest at 55-55 with a short jumper with 3:15 to go. Onukwugha gave the Purple Birds the lead for good though with a layup at the 2:30 mark, and then a follow off an Isola miss with 1:43 remaining for a 59-55 MTHS edge. Edison had opportunities to score, but made critical turnovers at the 1:20 and 55.1 second marks. Genevieve then began to put the game away with two foul shots at the 44.5 second mark. Stolte followed with a pair of his own with 19.5 left, and then Sorrento added another pair with 11.4 seconds to go.

With the victory, Monroe improves to 9-5 overall including a 6-3 mark in the GMC White. The Falcons are also 7-3 in the conference. Meanwhile, Edison slipped to 3-9 overall including a 1-7 mark in divisional play, and a 2-9 mark in the GMC. View the play-by-play and some video highlights from the second half in the blog.

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