See the summaries from the 2010-11 season in the archive.

GMC Hoops Summaries--January 18, 2012
Week Five--Gold Division Clash

Svendsen And Decker Help TCS Surge Past Amboy Tech, 62-39

By Greg Machos
January 18, 2012

PISCATAWAY, NJ--Almost a year to the day later, and the headline for this game was almost identical to the Timothy Christian's victory over Amboy Tech last season. With then juniors Kristian Svendsen and Dan Decker leading the way, the Tigers came away with a 64-55 decision over the Patriots. Now seniors, Svendsen and Decker turned in another solid performance to help the Tigers win their ninth straight game with a 62-39 victory over Amboy Tech on Wednesday night.

Svendsen scored 11 points in the first half and 12 in the second for a game high 23 points while Decker scored 16 of his 22 points over the final two periods. Svendsen, who now has 1,152 career points, also had 13 rebounds and 6 blocks while Decker, who is also approaching 1,000 points for his career with 912, connected on four more threes. Chipping in for the winners was Jeff Parker with 9 points on four field goals including a three. Leading the way in defeat for Amboy Tech was Rashad Adams, who had 10 points along with 14 boards to raise his career scoring total to 1,274 points.

Malcolm Batts continued his push toward 1,000 points for his career with 8 points. Saul Rosa also added 8 while Wilfredo Nieves chipped in with 6 for the Pats. The key to the Tigers latest victory was discipline on offense and a trapping defense in the second half. The result was a 40-21 surge over the final two periods to pull away from a 22-18 halftime deficit. Timothy Christian enjoyed a 19-15 edge in two point field goals, a 15-9 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, and a 9-0 edge in points scored at the foul line. Six players got into the scorebook for both TCS and Amboy Tech. Svendsen and Decker accounted for 73 percent of the Tigers scoring for the game including 70 percent of the scoring in the second half.

The Tigers outscored the Patriots in each of the four periods played. There were four lead changes and four ties in the first half before TCS got the last four points to take its 22-18 halftime lead. Neither team had a lead bigger than four points over the first two periods. Timothy Christian was a bit overanxious on offense in the first half. The Tigers took a lot of perimeter shots, which Amboy Tech exploited by getting the rebounds, and out in transition for easy baskets. The Patriots also attacked the glass for a number of offensive rebounds, which led to second chance points. In the second half, however, the Tigers worked the ball around better on offense, and stepped things up on defense. Svendsen was particularly active on both sides of the ball by poking away steals, blocking shots, running the floor in transition, and actually leading the break on occasion.

Timothy Christian opened the scoring with a layup from Svendsen at the 6:22 mark only to have the Patriots score the next four including a foul line jumper from Nieves at the 6:01 mark, and a layup by Batts at the 5:22 mark. Decker got on the board to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead with a three pointer from the left corner at the 4:31 mark. Parker then followed suit with a triple of his own from just to the left of the top of the key for an 8-4 lead with just under four minutes to go in the half. Perth Amboy Tech didn't let the game slip away at this point. Instead, the Pats put together a 6-2 run over a three minute span that included a short jumper by Batts, a basket by Adams, and a follow from Rosa to tie the game at 10-10 with under a minute to go in the first.

The game continued to go back and forth into much of the second. After Svendsen connected on a jumper in the paint off an offensive rebound to end the first with a 12-10 TCS lead, Kelvin Perez tied the score with a layin off a steal and assist by Nieves, and Adams got another basket as he was fouled for 14-12 lead with just under five minutes to go in the first half. Amboy Tech's lead didn't last very long though. Following a Timothy Christian timeout at the 4:48 mark, the Tigers got a conventional three point play from Svendsen at the 4:33 mark, and a trey by Decker at the 3:29 mark for an 18-14 lead. The Pats eventually tied the game up again at 18-18 when Adams got a basket on the ensuing possesion with 3:10 left in the half, and Batts scored on a layup from the left side at the 1:18 mark.

Timothy Christian scored the last four points of the first half including a jumper on a follow by Svendsen at the 52 second mark, and a putback by Brandon Summers (4 points) off a missed jumper by Decker for a 22-18 edge at the intermission. Building off the momentum gained at the end of the second quarter, the Tigers began the third with an 8-4 run including a layup by Summers, a reverse layup by Parker, and a coast to coast layup by Svendsen after he grabbed the rebound at the other end for a 30-22 lead with 4:06 to go in the period. Amboy Tech would score five of the next seven points over a span of just under two minutes as Rosa hit the first of his two threes at the 2:46 mark, and Nieves scored on a layup to narrow the deficit to 32-27 with 2:08 to go in the frame.

However, the Tigers wouldn't let the Pats get any closer after that. TCS went on a 15-2 tear over a span of 2:29 to bridge the end of the third with the start of the fourth for a 47-29 lead with 6:47 remaining. Svendsen began the run with a traditional three point play at the 1:16 mark followed by a one of two showing at the charity stripe with 46 seconds left in the period. Decker then made a pair from the foul line and drilled a line drive three pointer to end the third for a 42-29 lead. Svendsen opened the fourth with another three point play, and Parker capped the run with a layup. Timothy Christian continued to pour it on with a 15-10 run after that as Decker scored nine of his points including his final three of the game at the 6:01 mark while handing out an assist on a layup by Svendsen with 2:56 to go. Zach Csorny also broke into the scoring column with a layup in the final minute.

With the victory, Timothy Christian improved to 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the GMC Gold while Amboy Tech fell to 8-4 on the season including a 4-4 mark in divisional play. Earlier in the day, Timothy Christian's JV won over Amboy Tech to improve to 10-1 on the season. The only loss for the Junior Tigers came a week ago at Dunellen. See play-by-play and video highlights from this game in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.

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