Third Quarter Spurt Key to Patriots Victory
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| Perth Amboy Tech’s Kyle Gregory fires up a three point attempt in the first quarter against Timothy Christian. Gregory led the Patriots to a 61-53 victory with a double-double of 16 points and 12 assists. |
PERTH AMBOY, NJ–Coming into the 2016-17 GMC boys basketball season, both Perth Amboy Tech and Timothy Christian were expected to be battling it out for the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Gold Division crown. Both teams had this date circled on their calendars for a while.
Timothy Christian entered the game with already two wins thanks to an opening night victory over Piscataway Tech on Friday, and then a win over South River less than 24 hours later on Saturday. Perth Amboy Tech was impressive in its only game, a 75-49 victory over South Amboy. In that contest, the Patriots fired in 16 three pointers.
Both teams went back and forth for much of the contest. For the first 19:22 of the contest, there were 8 lead changes and two ties with neither team having a lead bigger than 6 points. However, the Patriots would take charge midway through the third though by going on a 9-1 run to end the third and take a 34-26 lead. Amboy Tech would lead by as many as 11 before winning the game, 61-53.
Kyle Gregory led a balanced Patriots attack with 16 points while Eric Negro chipped in with 13, and Javon Fisher added 11. Robert Saydee led all scorers with 20 points for Timothy Christian while teammate Pierce Kokosinski chipped in with 19. The Tigers of TCS fought to the very end as they forced Amboy Tech go to the line often, especially over the final two minutes of the game.
Perth Amboy Tech ended up going 13 of 24 from the charity stripe in the final period. For the game, the Patriots went 17 of 33 from the line while Timothy Christian made 16 of 25 foul shots. As a team, Amboy Tech collected 47 rebounds, 26 assists, 7 steals, and 4 blocks. Gregory and Fisher ended up with double doubles as Gregory handed out 12 assists while Fisher tallied 12 boards in the Pats win.
Both teams only had three treys while Amboy Tech had a 34-30 edge in points scored inside the arc. The game started out with Amboy Tech taking a 7-3 lead at the 5:49 mark on scores by Miguel Hernandez and Gregory including a three pointer by Gregory. TCS wrestled the lead back on a three by Kokosinski at the 5:26 mark, and a basket while being fouled by Saydee midway through the period.
The Patriots then ended the first period by scoring 5 of the last 8 points for a 12-11 lead heading into the second. Fisher had four of the points including a layup. Already, there were four lead changes in the game. Timothy Christian opened the second period with a score, but Amboy Tech went back out in front at 15-13 on a three from the left wing by Gregory at the 4:55 mark.
The Tigers would tie the game back up on a layup by Saydee prior to an Amboy Tech timeout at the 2:57 mark. Saydee, who was fouled on the layup, made the bonus free throw for a 16-15 lead, but Amboy Tech went back out in front by one on a three point play by Fisher with 1:51 to go in the half. The play by Fisher sparked a 7-0 Patriots spurt to end the first half.
Amboy Tech’s run continued with scores by Hernandez with 15.1 seconds to play, and then a last second layup for a 22-16 lead going into the intermission. Gregory led the Patriots with 8 while Fisher chipped in with 7. Saydee led Timothy Christian with 8 points while Kokosinski chipped in with 5. The third period began with TCS battling its way back into the contest.
Timothy Christian started the third with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 25-25 with 4:38 left in the frame. Highlighting the run were two scores by Saydee and a three pointer from the left side of the key by Kokosinski. The Tigers were unable to take the lead though, and Amboy Tech seized control of the game for good with a 9-1 spurt to end the stanza. Negro had two scores during the run while Gonzalez added three points, and Fisher chipped in with a layup off a steal for a 34-26 lead going into the fourth.
In the final period, Perth Amboy Tech led by as many as 11 points on several occasions thanks to a drive for a layup from Gonzalez at the 3:08 mark, and two free throws by Negro with 1:47 to play. Timothy Christian kept battling though by forcing Amboy Tech to the line, and then attacking the basket. The Tigers strategy did manage to get the lead down to single digits, but the Patriots were able to come away with the 61-53 win.
With the victory, Perth Amboy Tech improved to 2-0 both overall and in division. Meanwhile, Timothy Christian dropped to 2-1 overall and in the GMC while falling to 1-1 in the Gold Division. Both teams return to action on Wednesday with Amboy Tech traveling to play East Brunswick Tech at 5:30 PM, and Timothy Christian hosting Wardlaw at 6:30 PM.