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East
Brunswick Ovecomes Pesky South River |
By Greg Machos
February 9, 2008EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ—For both East Brunswick and South River, the 2007-08 campaign has been one to forget. The Bears, which lost its entire starting five from last season on top of losing its entire starting five from the year before, entered Saturday's contest in the 2008 GMCT Play-In Round with only three wins all season including just two in conference play. Meanwhile, South River, which had started the season with a 3-1 record before losing not only the game to Metuchen on December 22nd, but also standout player, Eddie Dumas, who was injured in the contest, had lost 16 of its last 17 games. To make matters worse, the Rams were missing both Dumas (who had returned from his injury several weeks ago) and fellow senior Jimmy Witkowski, who weren't feeling well. On the other side of the ledger, EB was missing 6'7" junior forward, Mike Kvidahl. Nevertheless, each squad had a chance to salvage something out of their season with a win in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. Awaiting the victor in this game was tenth seeded Sayreville, whose head coach, Shawn Currie, was in attendance to check both teams out.
For two and a half quarters, South River played like it had done in its first five games. Despite not having a knack of consistently knocking down the perimeter shot, the Rams managed to hang with East Brunswick by getting timely threes from the likes of sophomores Steve Moore, Brandon Walsh, and Shawn Fenton, and junior Dino Silva. In addition, South River also showed some resiliency early on when it appeared that the Bears were going to run them out of the gym. East Brunswick began the game with a 7-2 spurt over the first 5:15 of the game, and led 11-4 after one. However, the Rams battled back with the first six points of the second to pull within one, and then after a Scott Stolzenberg layup at the 5:12 mark for a 13-10 lead, the visitors scored six of the next eight points to take a suprising 16-15 lead with 4:16 to play in the first half. For the next eight minutes or so, the contest became a classic back and forth battle between David and Goliath as South River, a member of the GMC Blue, and a Group I school, fought tooth and nail with one of the larger schools in the GMC in EB from the Red Division. During the quarter long span that bridged the latter portion of the second with the middle of the third, there were eight lead changes and fourth times while neither team enjoyed a lead bigger than three points. The three point advantage was actually South River's last edge of the game.
Despite showing great heart and determination, the Rams just weren't able to overcome the talent gap between themselves and East Brunswick. The Bears applied more pressure defensively in the second half, and inserted senior reserve, Ray Bryan, whose athleticism also made a difference. Trailing 37-34 at the midway point of the third, East Brunswick embarked on what would be a decisive 23-0 rampage over a span of 7:57 before Fenton made one of two at the line for South River with 5:03 remaining to make the score, 57-38 in favor fo the Bears. The Rams only had one field goal in the final twelve minutes of play, and that was on a steal for a layup by Moore with a few minutes remaining. The rest of the points came at the foul line with four free throws thanks to Fenton, and freshman Xavier Foster as the Bears went on to win easily, 63-43. Leading the victors was Stolzenberg, who played brilliantly in the Vaughn Stapleton Classic against Bridgewater-Raritan, with 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the floor, and 5 of 6 makes from the line for the game high. The senior center also added 10 rebounds for a double-double, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Junior guard, Dustin Schuld chipped in with 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting from the flooor, and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line to go along with 2 steals, a rebound, assist, and a block. Senior Mike Mello helped orchestrate the effort with 5 assists in addition to his 7 points on 3 of 5 shooting from the floor including 1 of 2 from three, and 4 rebounds. On the other side of the scorebook, Moore led the Rams with a team high 11 points on four field goals including a three, and a perfect 2 of 2 at the line to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 charges, 2 steals, and a block. Walsh chipped in with 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting including a three pointer as well as team high 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. For the rest of the individual stats, check out the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section.
For the game, East Brunswick shot 23 of 56 from the floor for 41.1 percent including a 2 of 11 effort from long range for 18.2 percent. The Bears also made 15 of 21 from the foul line for 71.4 percent. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, South River clicked on only 15 of 47 attempts for 31.9 percent including 5 of 15 from three point range for 33.3 percent. At the charity stripe, the Rams connected on 8 of 17 attempts for 47.1 percent. In the second half, South River only made 6 of 24 shots for 25 percent while EB netted 12 of 30 from the floor, and 14 of 18 from the charity stripe. In other statistical areas, East Brunswick held advantages in turnovers (16-19), rebounding (38-33), offensive rebounding (12-11), assists (13-10), and blocks (4-1). The only area South River had an edge in was charges (3-0) while steals were even (8-8). The Bears scored in double figures in each of the four quarters while South River only managed to do that in two of the periods as East Brunswick outscored the Rams in three of the four frames. In the first quarter, EB put South River on the ropes early despite making only 5 of 15 field goal attempts and committing five miscues. The home team limited the visitors to just 1 of 9 shooting from the field, and forced six first period turnovers as it established the early lead. Neither team scored for the first minute and a half as both started the game cold before Stolzenberg scored on a baseline drive for a reverse layup, and a 2-0 lead at the 6:30 mark.
South River had a chance to knot the game up at 2-2, but senior guard, Eric Seawright misfired on both his free throw shooting attempts at the 5:58 mark. Walsh grabbed the offensive rebound, but the Rams couldn't convert. The dearth of scoring continued. As of the 5:14 mark of the first, the Bears were only 1 of 6 from the floor while the Rams were 0 of 1 in field goal attempts, and 0 of 2 from the line while making four turnovers. Things began to pick up a bit as Mello found Mauro Tucci for a layup that made the score, 4-0 with 4:52 left in the period. Diminutive, but exciting guard, Alec Mayo then drew a charge at the 4:49 mark, and then drilled a three pointer from the top of the key off an assist by Stolzenberg for a 7-0 lead with 4:21 to go in the opening stanza. The Rams didn't get thier first field goal and points of the game until the 2:45 mark while EB scored four more points including a baseline drive from the left side by Mello for a layup at the 2:37 mark, and then after Foster, who made 5 of 6 free throws en route to scoring 9 points, netted two free throws at the 56 second mark, 6'6" senior, Dan Sullivan, scored on a tap in off a miss by junior reserve, Kevin Johnson for the 11-4 first quarter lead. In the second though, South River punched back with a 4-0 run in the first 1:08 of the period including a jumper by Moore for an 11-8 EB lead at the 6:52 mark. Then, after a thirty second timeout called by long time Bears head coach, Bo Henning at the 5:49 mark, Walsh pulled his team to within one with a jumper from Foster at the 5:30 mark that made the score, 11-10. On the next Bear possession, Stolzenberg came up with a much needed basket on a drive from the right wing along the baseline for a reverse layup that made the score, 13-10 with 5:12 remaining before the intermission.
However, the Rams would actually take the lead with a 6-2 run that consisted of two layups from Seawright, and a layup by Foster that made the score, 16-15 as East Brunswick called for time with 4:16 to play in the half. Over the next 1:03, both offenses began to pick up as EB got scores from Mayo and Mello while Fenton knocked down a critical three pointer to knot the score at 19-19. Moore then made two free throws for a 21-19 Ram lead at the 3:13 mark. Over the next 2:06, neither team was able to score until Stolzenberg drove through the middle for a layup that squared the game again at 21-21 with 1:07 left in the second quarter. The Bears had a chance to move ahead, but Mello missed the front end of a one and one with just under a minute to go in the half. Stolzenberg did pick up his fellow senior though by making one of two at the line for a 22-21 lead with 34 seconds to go before the break, but on the next South River possession, Walsh drove to the hoop, and kicked out a pass to Dino Silvan in the right corner for a three pointer that gave the Rams the lead again at 24-22 with 26 seconds left in the period. With time running down in the first half, Mello got hold of the basketball, and dished to Sullivan alone on the left baseline for a mid-range jumpe that knotted the contest at 24-24 as both teams went to their respective locker rooms. Looking at the first half statistics, South River shot 9 of 23 from the floor for 39.1 percent while East Brunswick was 11 of 26 for 42.3 percent. The Rams made 2 of 6 from beyond the arc for 33.3 percent while EB made only 1 of 6 for 16.7 percent.
At the foul line, South River actually fared well over the first two periods by going 4 of 6 for 66.7 percent while the hometown Bears were only 1 of 3 from the charity stripe for 33.3 percent. In other stat areas, turnovers were even at 9-9 while South River actually held a slight rebounding edge (16-14). Offensive rebounds were somewhat hard to come by with both teams grabbing an even amount (3-3), but South River had more assists (5-4), and charges while EB had more blocks (3-0) and steals were even (2-2). Moving over to the halftime scoring, East Brunswick was led by Stolzenberg, who made three shots, and 1 of 2 at the line for 7 points while Mayo scored all five of his points in the first two periods on a three pointer, and a field goal. Mello and Sullivan each added four on two field goals while Tucci and Schuld chipped in with a field goal apiece. On the other side of the ledger, Moore led the Rams with six points on two field goals and 2 of 2 at the line while Seawright added four on two layups and Foster got his four on a field goal and layup and two foul shots. Fenton and Silva added their treys for three each while Walsh had a field goal for two. Returning to the action in the third, the two teams continued their back and forth battle as the Bears opened the second half with the first four points including a Stolzenberg layup at the seven minute mark for a 28-24 lead. South River countered though with five straight points including a steal off Mayo by Seawright for a layup that gave the visitors the lead again at 29-28 with 6:26 left in the third.
The Rams then made it an 8-0 run as Walsh canned a three pointer off an assist from Seawright for a 32-28 lead as East Brunswick called for a full timeout at the 6:07 mark. Following the stoppage, the Bears reeled off the next six points over a span of 1:27 including two short jumpers by Johnson off assists from Mayo and Mello for a 32-32 tie at the 5:25 mark. Then, the Bears took the lead again as Mello found Stolzenberg for a short hook in the paint, and a 34-32 lead with 4:40 left in the period. South River retaliated though with the next five points including a three pointer by Moore, and a jumper by Walsh for a 37-34 lead midway through the third. At this point, the game went south in a big way for the Rams. Starting quietly with two free throws by Stolzenberg at the 3:47 mark, East Brunswick overwhelmed South River with an avalanche of points over the next eight minutes or so. Buoyed by a string of offensive rebounds that exploited the size advantage between the two teams, the Bears run grew to 9-0 within a minute including a layup by Stolzenberg as he was fouled at the 2:49 mark. Missing the bonus free throw, Stolzenberg then grabbed the offensive rebound, and that led to Johnson getting fouled. The junior reserve then made one of two from the charity stripe for a 10-0 run, and a 44-37 lead with 2:27 left in the period. On the missed second free throw, Stolzenberg grabbed the board again, and gave it to Mayo, who dished to Tucci for a drive to the basket that drew a foul, and resulted in one of two more for a 11-0 run, and a 45-37 advantage with 2:19 left in the third.
South River head coach, Mike DelAversano, tried in vain to settle his troops, and more importantly, stem the tide, but he couldn't. The Rams themselves tried to get stirred up again by fighting for a loose ball that caused emotions to flare up as Silva and Schuld got entangled at the 1:38 mark, but after the skirmish was broken up, the Bears proceeded to pull away with their tidal surge. Schuld stepped to the line, and made a pair of foul shots for a 47-37 lead at the 1:24 mark. The junior guard, then followed that up with a layin off a loose ball for a 49-37 lead with 44 seconds to go in the period. Bryan then got involved with an offensive rebound and follow of his own miss for a 51-37 lead at the 26 second mark, and that's how both teams entered the fourth and final period of play. The start of the fourth quarter saw nothing change in terms of the two teams predicaments as the Bears ran off the first six points of the frame for a twenty point, 57-37 lead with 5:25 left. Highlighting the early fourth quarter spurt was a Sullivan layup off an assist from Schuld, a layup by Bryan, and two more foul shots from Schuld for a 23-0 surge. Fenton finally put a halt to the blitz with his one of two showing from the line, but the damage had been done, and South River was unable to recover as East Brunswick won 63-43 to advance. With the victory, EB improved to 4-17 overall on the season, and 3-15 in conference play while South River fell to 4-18 overall, and 2-15 in the GMC. East Brunswick moves on to face Sayreville in the Preliminary round at the Bomb Shelter on Monday night.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
East Brunswick (4-17) |
11 | 13 | 27 | 12 | 63 |
South River (4-18) |
4 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 43 |
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