Middlesex Breaks Away from Dunellen, 55-37

Third Quarter Spurt Lifts Jays Past Destroyers

MIDDLESEX, NJ–One of the most underrated rivalries in the Greater Middlesex Conference is the one between Dunellen and Middlesex. Often overlooked because they are both small schools in Group 1, the rivalry between the Destroyers and the Blue Jays in both football and basketball is pretty intense.

Recently in Boys Basketball though, Middlesex has dominated the rivalry. Earlier this year, Middlesex won its fourth straight Shello-Santy Holiday Tournament Championship by defeating its neighborhood rival, 56-30 at the Faber in December. On Monday night, the two teams met again, and for a while the Destroyers gave the Jays all it could handle.

Leading only 23-22 at the half, and tied at 26-26 early in the third quarter, Middlesex put together a decisive 11-3 spurt sparked by a Tyler Ha three followed by two treys from Chris Spencer, and a layup by Chris Hendricks for a 37-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Middlesex continued to pull away from there in the fourth with an 18-8 showing for a 55-37 victory. Hendricks, a senior guard, led the way with 13 points including 10 in the first half while Ha, a junior guard, contributed with 10 points all in the second half on two threes and a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

Jake Robel scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter including a three pointer, and a layup off an alleyoop pass from Ha for a 47-31 lead at the 5:15 mark of the final frame. Spencer had 9 points all coming on three pointers with one in the second in addition to his two during the critical third quarter run.

Nick Montajes added 6 points on two first half threes while reserve forward Kareem Aref helped wrap up the win with a three and a putback down the stretch for five points. Pat Rudawski wrapped up the Blue Jays scoring in the game with a field goal in each of the first two periods for four points.

Dunellen was led by freshman guard, Tyje’ Kelton, who scored a team high 12 points while teammate Oscar Caballero scored 11 including 9 in the first half. The Destroyers had seven another players score, but none of them scored more than three points in the contest.

For the game, Middlesex had 10 field goals, 9 three pointers, and made 8 of 15 from the foul line. Meanwhile, Dunellen had 9 field goals, 4 three pointers, and made only 7 of 17 from the foul line. The Blue Jays enjoyed a 20-18 edge in points scored within the arc, and a 27-12 advantage from long distance. Middlesex outscored Dunellen in three of the four periods played.

The first period saw Middlesex jump out to a 13-9 lead as Hendricks scored 8 of his points on three field goals and 2 of 4 from the foul line. Montajes added a trey while Rudawski made a field goal. Dunellen had four different players score in the frame including Caballero, who made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe while Kelton, Jibril Hagood-Henry, and Angel Suarez each added a basket.

The second period saw Dunellen battle back with a 13-10 showing to pull within one at 23-22 going into the locker room at halftime. Caballero sank two threes while point guard, R.J. Mitchell got his only points of the game on a trey. Kelton also added two field goals. Spencer and Montajes countered with threes for Middlesex while Hendricks and Rudawski added field goals for the Jays.

The third period would be the turning point in the game, where Middlesex would turn what had been a close affair into a runaway. The Jays opened the second half scoring with a three from the right wing by Ha for a 26-22 lead, but Dunellen rallied with the next four points all courtesy of Kelton, who got a layup off a lob pass on an inbound play underneath, and then put back a missed three pointer to tie the game at 26-26.

Middlesex wouldn’t relinquish the lead, and seized control of the game for good by scoring 11 of the next 14 points that included three treys combined from Ha and Spencer as well as Hendricks layup for a 37-29 lead. The only scoring by Dunellen during this run was a three pointer by Nazir Martin that closed the gap to 32-29. The Jays pulled away even further in the fourth.

Opening the final quarter with by scoring 10 of the first 12 points, Middlesex took a commanding 47-31 lead with 5:15 remaining in the contest. Highlighting the early fourth’s flurry of points was a three by Robel, and then a layup by Robel off an alleyoop pass from Ha that was just throw a little too far behind for the Jays big man to throw it down for a dunk.

Chris Hendricks added a free throw at the 4:09 mark while Kareem Aref wrapped up the scoring with a three from the right side of the key, and then a putback. Dunellen made the game a little more respectable at the end with a score by Chris Rouland as well as free throws by Isaiah Roberts and Barak Yabidi.

With the victory, Middlesex improved to 8-7 overall and 7-5 in the GMC while snapping a three game losing streak. Meanwhile, Dunellen dropped to 5-11 overall and 3-10 in the GMC. Both teams return to action later in the week with Middlesex hosting Spotswood on Wednesday at 6:00 PM and South River on Friday at 6:00 PM. Meanwhile, Dunellen hosts the Academy of Urban Leadership on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM, and then South Amboy in a GMC Gold clash on Friday night at 6:00 PM