GMC Hoops Highlights–March 15, 2013–#3 Atlantic City vs. #2 St. Joseph’s–T of C Semis

Here are the video highlights from St. Joseph’s of Metuchen’s 63-49 victory over Atlantic City in the semifinal round of the 2013 Tournament of Champions at Monmouth University. After trailing 31-29 at the half, the Falcons outscored the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin in the final two periods for the 14 point victory.

St. Joe’s defense was simply stifling in the second half. Over the final two periods. AC’s shooting percentage dropped 15 percent. The Vikings went just 5 of 30 from the floor in the second half. 3 of 15 from the floor in the fourth quarter alone including misses on their last 10 shot attempts of the game. Atlantic City not only couldn’t get that clutch second half three that they had been able to get in the previous three rounds, but they couldn’t even buy one as it went 0 of 6 from beyond the arc in the final two periods. The result was the Falcons turning a two point halftime deficit into a 14 point, 63-49 win by outscoring the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin (34-18) over the final two periods.

The Falcons also overcame a double digit rebounding deficit at one point in the first half to have a 35-33 edge on the boards. St. Joe’s also committed fewer team fouls (15-17), and ended up shooting 25 of 51 from the field for 49 percent. Both teams ended up going 12 of 18 from the free throw line. The four time defending GMCT champion, didn’t shoot much better from three point range by only going 1 of 12, but the Falcons got a combined 54 points, or 86 percent of its scoring from the Big Three of Karl Towns (24 points), Wade Baldwin (15 points), and Marques Townes (15 points). Towns, who managed to avoid fouling out of the contest, connected on 10 of 16 shots while Townes clicked on 6 of 10 shooting for the winners.