vs. 
On Sunday afternoon, the 2022 Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals will have its third game of the day between 4th seeded Monroe and 5th seeded South Brunswick. These two teams met twice during the regular season with each winning a buzzer beater on their home floor. One of the two games also went to overtime. Let’s take a closer look at the two teams.
No. 4 Monroe (20-3)–Coaching Staff
| Jeff Warner | Monroe Head Coach |
| Brian Hyans | Monroe Varsity Assistant/JV Coach |
| Nick Isola | Monroe Freshmen Coach |
No. 4 Monroe (20-3)–Team Roster
| Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Martinez-Mcintire | / | Senior | |||||
| Josh Okocha | 1 | Guard | 6'4/185 | Senior | |||
| Jonathan Okocha | 2 | Guard/Forward | 6'3/180 | Senior | |||
| Elijah Okocha | 3 | Guard/Forward | 6'1/175 | Senior | |||
| Ryan Zurawiecki | 5 | Forward | 6'3/190 | Senior | |||
| Vansh Parikh | 11 | Guard | 5'9/155 | Senior | |||
| Anish Shah | 12 | Center | 6'4"/175 | Senior | |||
| Riley Piscitelli | 15 | Guard | 6'1/170 | Junior | |||
| Myles Marabuto | 22 | Guard | 5'9/150 | Sophomore | |||
| Shaun Siegel | 25 | Guard | 6'0"/170 | Senior | |||
| Aidan Lane | 30 | Guard | 6'0/170 | Junior | |||
| Dean Pandolfi | 33 | Guard | 5'10"/165 | Senior |
No. 4 Monroe (20-3)–Season Schedule
No. 5 South Brunswick (15-7)–Coaching Staff
| Joe Hoehman | South Brunswick Head Coach |
| Bobby Henning | South Brunswick Assistant Varsity |
| Justin McCuen | South Brunswick Assistant Varsity/JV Head Coach |
| Sean Edwards | South Brunswick Freshmen Coach |
No. 5 South Brunswick (15-7)–Team Roster
| Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yathin Vemula | 1 | Point Guard | 6'0/175 | Senior | |||
| Damien Downes | 2 | Guard | 6'0/180 | Senior | |||
| Shyheim Davis | 4 | Guard | 5'11/170 | Senior | |||
| Jacob Brokaw | 5 | Forward | 6'1/175 | Junior | |||
| Brian Rawls | 10 | Guard | 6'1/185 | Senior | |||
| Kalani Antoine | 11 | Guard | 5'9/150 | Junior | |||
| Nitish Raj | 12 | Guard | 5'10"/160 | Junior | |||
| Harmehar Chhabra | 14 | Forward | 6'5/190 | Junior | |||
| Saumit Kale | 15 | Guard/Forward | 6'1/175 | Senior | |||
| Harsh Easwar | 15 | Guard | 5'11"/165 | Senior | |||
| John Rappoccio | 21 | Forward | 6'4"/175 | Junior | |||
| Daniel Swirad | 22 | Forward | 6'4"/175 | Sophomore | |||
| Brandon Lee | 34 | Forward | 6'2"/180 | Senior |
No. 5 South Brunswick (15-7)–Season Schedule
No. 4 Monroe (20-3) vs. No. 5 South Brunswick (15-7)–Head to Head
| Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
 J.P. Stevens |
 Old Bridge |
GMC Red 69-59 |
J.P. Stevens HS Gym (Edison, NJ) |
 Piscataway |
 New Brunswick |
GMC Red 62-51 |
Piscataway HS Gym (Piscataway, NJ) |
| Monroe |
South Brunswick |
GMC Red 51-49 OT |
Monroe Township HS Gym (Monroe, NJ) |
 Perth Amboy |
 St. Joseph's |
GMC Red 49-69 |
Perth Amboy HS Gym (Perth Amboy, NJ) |
| Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens |
 East Brunswick |
GMC Red 50-55 |
J.P. Stevens HS Gym (Edison, NJ) |
| South Brunswick |
Monroe |
GMC Red 45-43 |
South Brunswick HS Gym (Monmouth Junction, NJ) |
| New Brunswick |
Perth Amboy |
GMC Red 61-46 |
New Brunswick HS Gym (New Brunswick, NJ) |
No. 4 Monroe (20-3) vs. No. 5 South Brunswick (15-7)–Recent History
Since the 2016-17 season, Monroe and South Brunswick have played each other a total of 14 times with the Vikings winning 8 of the contests. In those games, South Brunswick has averaged 55.0 points per game while Monroe has averaged 51.9 points per game. The Vikings have won 5 out of the last 6 meetings between the two schools. Both schools played each other 4 times during the 2018-19 season, and they could do that again this year.
Key Players
Monroe
- Jonathan Okocha: 6’3″ Sr. G/F with 526 career points, and averaging 15.9 ppg this season.
- Josh Okocha: 6’4″ Sr. G/F with 426 career points, and averaging 13.0 ppg this season.
- Elijah Okocha: 6’1″ Sr. G/F with 356 career points, and averaging 12.1 ppg this season.
- Myles Marabuto: 5’9″ So. G with 145 career points, and averaging 6.1 ppg this season.
- Ryan Zurawiecki: 6’3″ Sr. F with 109 career points, and averaging 4.7 ppg this season.
South Brunswick
- Yathin Vemula: 6’0″ Sr. G with 722 career points, and averaging 13.9 ppg this season
- Harmehar Chhabra: 6’5″ Jr. F with 274 career points, and averaging 12.4 ppg this season.
- Damien Downes: 6’0″ Sr. G with 321 career points, and averaging 9.8 ppg this season
- Kalani Antoine: 5’9″ Jr. G with 263 career points, and averaging 9.8 ppg this season.
- Brian Rawls: 6’1″ Sr. G with 149 career points, and averaging 6.7 ppg this season.
- Shyheim Davis: 5’11” Sr. G with 118 career points, and averaging 4.9 ppg this season.
MONROE vs. SOUTH BRUNSWICK DID YOU KNOW?
With Monroe hosting this year’s GMCT Boys and Girls Semifinals and Championship this season, both MTHS and South Brunswick will have hosted the GMCT Basketball Final Four and Championship. In addition, both schools were also in the Blue Division at the time the Greater Middlesex Conference first formed for the 1985-86 basketball season.
Both schools were Group 2 schools for a number of years after the inception of the conference. South Brunswick was the first to grow as it eventually moved up to the GMC White for the 1987-88 season, and never looked back. By the year 2000, SBHS had a brand new school and was playing in the GMC Red.
Monroe would follow suit, but it would take longer. The Falcons remained in the GMC Blue and Central Jersey Group 2 until the 2002-03 season when it moved up to the GMC White and Central Jersey Group 3. The Falcons stayed in the White Division until after the new school was built for the 2011-12 academic year. Monroe moved up to the Red Division in football in 2010, and then in basketball in 2016-17.
The last time these two teams met in the GMCT was in the first round or Round of 16 of the 2019 GMCT when the 7th seeded Falcons defeated the 10th seeded Vikings (57-52). In that game, Josh Daniels led Monroe with a game high 24 points while Andrew Turco chipped in with 13, and 1,000 point scorer, Mike Kides added 10. South Brunswick was led by Devin Strickland with 14 while both Justin Carbone and Christian Mangrum chipped in with 13.
Prior to that, these two teams met in the GMCT was in the 2006 GMCT Elite Eight when the Falcons were also the 4th seed and South Brunswick was the 5th seed. Monroe’s Purple City Bird Gang, led by all time leading scorer A.J. Rudowitz and coached by current St. Thomas Aquinas head coach, Bob Turco, defeated the Vikings (61-44) then coached by current North Plainfield AD, Chris Balent, and led by the Soaries twins (Martin and Malcolm) and Devon Young.
Prediction:
Expect this game to be a knock down drag out fight. Both teams split their two division games earlier in the season. Monroe won the first contest in overtime (51-49) on a last second shot by Jonathan Okocha on January 22nd in Monroe Township, and then South Brunswick got its revenge on a last second shot on January 31st in Monmouth Junction.
This game will be played on a neutral court at Middlesex County College, but the 4th seeded Falcons have some incentive to win this game since a victory would put them in the semifinals on their home court. Several members of this South Brunswick team have been here before with the 2019-20 Vikings team including Vemula, Downes, and Davis.
South Brunswick was actually ranked higher in the pre-season by GMC Hoops at No. 4 while Monroe came in at No. 6. The Falcons have exceeded those expectations, but despite some ups and downs, the Vikings have done pretty much what was expected in a very competitive and balanced GMC Red. This could come down to another last second shot.
And, oh, by the way, these two teams could meet again in the states since they are both in Central Jersey Group 4!
Final Score: South Brunswick 50–Monroe 49