Princeton Bound Guard Leads EB Past St. Joe’s In Showdown; Timothy Christian Only GMC Team To Go 2-0 On Opening Weekend
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Opening weekend has come and gone, and it is time to issue our GMC Hoops honors for the first weekend of the 2012-13 season. The Player of the Week honor goes to Amir Bell of East Brunswick for his efforts against St. Joseph’s. Timothy Christian earned the GMC Hoops Profile of the Week for its fine start to the season, and of course, the Bears of EB and the Falcons of St. Joe’s earned Game of the Week honors for the great game they played on opening night.
GMC Hoops Player of the Week–Amir Bell, East Brunswick
Since the 2007-08 campaign when East Brunswick went 4-18, the Bears have been one of the top teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference. During that five year run, EB has had several players break into the varsity lineup as freshmen. Two of those players are on this year’s team with NJIT bound senior Rob Ukawuba and Princeton bound junior Amir Bell. Both Ukawuba and Bell have helped the Bears earn three straight GMCT Elite Eight berths, and a Final Four appearance last season. This year, the duo is hoping to go further in both the GMCT and the states.
On opening night, the two combined for 35 points including a team high 18 by Bell, who connected on three field goals including three treys in the win. In a game that lived up to the pre-season hype, the second ranked Bears overcame an early 15-6 deficit to defeat top ranked St. Joe’s on the road despite 24 points by Immaculata transfer Wade Baldwin and 18 points from Kentucky bound Karl Towns. In the off-season, Bell was also a key contributor to East Brunswick’s success in the East Coast Conditioning Fall League where the Bears defeated Rutgers Prep, Linden, and St. Patrick’s in the playoffs to win the league championship.
As a sophomore at East Brunswick, Bell played in 24 games, averaged 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. He connected on 45 field goals including 16 three pointers while making 58 free throws as the Bears went 18-8 last season, reached the GMCT semifinals for the first time since the 2000-01 season, and reached the Central Jersey Group IV Quarterfinals. In his two plus years at EB, he has played in 52 games, scored 349 points on 109 field goals including 38 threes, and sank 90 foul shots. Bell has also collected 37 assists and 35 rebounds. Congratulations Amir, and best of luck this season.
GMC Profile–Timothy Christian Tigers
After losing two 1,000 point scorers in Dan Decker (Baptist Bible College) and Kristian Svendsen (Raritan Valley Community College), nobody gave Timothy Christian consideration for Gold Division honors entering into this season despite Piscataway Tech moving on to the Blue Division. However, the Tigers still have two solid returning players in Jeff Parker and Brandon Summers, and players up from a JV squad that did very well last season. Add to that the team philosophy, and family like atmosphere created by head coach, Chris Hobbs, and you have a team that may surprise some this season.
On opening day, the Tigers knocked off Gold Division contender, South River at home by the score of 41-39. The following day, TCS registered an impressive win over Lincoln of Jersey City in a non-conference matchup. The Tigers were the only team in the GMC to go 2-0 during the opening weekend. Parker led the way in the win over South River with a team high 14 points including the game winner with 30 seconds left while Matt DiLeo added 12 including a three point play to answer a 10-0 fourth quarter run by South River that gave the Rams the lead. In the surprising 49-32 victory over Lincoln less than 24 hours later, Summers recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while Jarrett Locke added 9, and Parker and DiLeo each chipped in with 8.
Other players expected to contribute to the 2012-13 edition of the TCS Tigers are Matt Ziegler, Evan Waldron, Zach Coyle, David Figueroa, and Josiah Vargas. Also on the roster are Brandon McDougal, Ben St. Jean, and Josh Decker. Congratulations to Chris Hobbs and the Timothy Christian Tigers for the fine start to the season, and best of luck the rest of the way.
GMC Hoops Game of the Week–East Brunswick @ St. Joseph’s–Opening Night
It was a no brainer for the GMC Hoops Game of the Week on opening weekend. The highly anticipated showdown between the second ranked Bears of East Brunswick, and the top ranked Falcons of St. Joe’s lived up to the hype. EB jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the contest only to have the Falcons respond with a 15-2 tear including 10 points from Karl Towns.
The Bears wouldn’t go away though, led by the tandem of Player of the Week Amir Bell (18 points) and Rob Ukawuba (17 points), and timely three pointers from Gary Baumer and Carl Taylor, the Bears pulled to within seven at the break, and put together a 22-11 surge in the fourth quarter for the win. East Brunswick connected on eight treys including three by Bell and two by Ukawuba.
Ukawuba came up with a traditional three point play with three minutes left for a 47-45 lead, and then hit a three pointer a minute later for a 47-45 lead. Scrappy guard, Dan Leung netted two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to seal the win, and ended up with 6 points while senior big man, Jake Krantz and Taylor each added 7 for the winners. Immaculata transfer Wade Baldwin led all scorers with 24 points while Towns ended up with 18, but no other St. Joe’s player had more than five points in the contest.
Congratulations to both the Bears and the Falcons for a great opening night contest, and hopes for more to come the rest of the season.