UNION, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops made its second trip up to Kean University to take in the sixth night of games in the first annual Kean Pre-Summer League. After being over at the Raritan Bay Summer League for the first two games of the evening there, the site took the trek up the Garden State Parkway to Kean, and arrived on time for the final games of the night played during the 8:00 PM hour. Two of those contests included GMC teams as Monroe battled New Hope Baptist while Piscataway took on Newark Central on an adjacent court.
New Hope Baptist Turns Close First Half Into Rout, 95-48
For a while, it appeared that the game between New Hope Baptist and Monroe would go down to the wire. With 5:27 to play in the first half, the Purple Birds, which actually had the lead on several occasions in the opening period, trailed 26-25 after a foul line jumper by Danny Brix. However, New Hope Baptist destroyed any ideas of the Falcons winning this contest. Putting together a 10-0 spurt to end the first half, New Hope Baptist went on to outscore Monroe by a margin of 59-23 in the second half for a 69-23 surge over the final 25:27 of the contest, and a 95-48 rout in nightcap action at the 2010 Kean Pre-Summer League.
The game went from a toe-to-toe slugfest to a dunkfest that drew oohs and aahs from New Hope Baptist players and fans alike. Even some of the Monroe players were in awe. GMC Hoops watched the entire first half of the game. For the first 14:33 of the contest, there were actually six lead changes and a tie while neither team had a lead bigger than six points during the span. However, Monroe was unable to keep up with New Hope Baptist once it began limiting itself to one and done possessions mostly made of perimeter shots without much ball movement. New Hope Baptist eagerly took advantage by getting the rebound or steal, going into transition, and converting easy scoring opportunities. Little by little, the game just snowballed out of control.
Now, in all fairness to Monroe, they didn’t have their full varsity there. Players such as Ryan Genevieve, Mike Mahmoud, Mike Walp, and Keyshawn Straughn were not present for this contest. As a matter of fact, both times that GMC Hoops has seen the Purple Birds in action at Kean, they haven’t had their full varsity squad. The other game ended up being a 68-33 loss to Carteret on May 27th. The site arrived with 19:03 to go in the first half, and New Hope Baptist leading 3-2. Just a little less than a minute later, New Hope got a three pointer to go up 6-2. A short time later, NHB got a steal and converted it into a layup for an 8-2 lead. So early on, it looked like it might get out of hand, but Monroe showed some resiliency, which wasn’t surprising, with a 6-2 run over the next 51 seconds to pull within two at 10-8 on a three at the 16:54 mark.
New Hope Baptist got another score to go back up by four before Danny Brix scored on a breakaway layup at the 16:06 mark for a 12-10 score. New Hope then got an offensive rebound and follow at the 15:38 mark for a 14-10 lead before Monroe rallied back with five straight points including a free throw, a foul line jumper by Ahmid Williams from Brix at the 13:39 mark, and an offensive rebound and follow at the 11:29 mark for a 15-14 lead. NHB back a bit over a minute later with a fast break layup for a 16-15 lead with 10:23 left in the half. However, the Falcons wrestled the lead back as Williams netted a three from the left wing for an 18-16 edge at the 9:48 mark. New Hope then tied the game with a score, but Williams gave Monroe the lead again at 21-18 with a three pointer from the right side at the 9:20 mark.
New Hope Baptist got a steal for a layup to pull within one at 21-20 with 8:51 left in the first half. Then, it got another layup for a 4-0 run, and a 22-21 lead at the 8:13 mark. Moments later though, on a subsequent possession, Monroe retook the lead as Brix canned a pull-up jumper for a 23-22 score with just inside eight minutes to go before the intermission. New Hope regained control of the contest for good with a field goal at the 7:40 mark for a 24-23 lead. After NHB got another score to go up by three, Monroe pulled right back within one as Williams passed to Brix for a jumper from the foul line that made the score, 26-25 with 5:27 remaining before halftime. New Hope Baptist then closed out the first half with a flourish as they scored the final ten points of the period.
With 3:50 to go in the half, New Hope got an offensive rebound and follow off a missed fast break layup for a 28-25 lead. Then, after getting another bucket to go up by five, NHB converted a traditional three point play for a 7-0 run, and a 33-25 lead with 1:35 to play in the half. Monroe then quickly turned the ball over on a steal that New Hope Baptist converted into a layup for a 35-25 lead. New Hope then ended the first half scoring with a free throw to go up by eleven, 36-25 at the break. In the second half, the roof fell in on Monroe as the contest descended into chaos, which New Hope Baptist thrived on. At first, New Hope began to slowly pull away with a 6-4 run over the first 1:50 for a 42-29 lead. Then, the lead increased a little more thanks to a pair of two handed jams for a 6-5 run, and a 48-34 lead at the 15:14 mark.
NHB then scored four of the next six points over a span of 1:23 for a 52-36 lead with 13:51 to go when the wheels came completely off for Monroe. In just 6:21, New Hope Baptist began to just run away with the game as it went on a 19-4 tear to take a 71-40 lead with 7:30 to go. It then made it a 31-4 tear by scoring twelve unanswered points in just 3:43 for a commanding 83-40 advantage. During the span, one NHB player scored on a tomahawk dunk off a rebound. The only bright spot down the stretch for Monroe was a basket by Nick Isola with 54 seconds to play that made the score, 93-48. New Hope Baptist went on to win, 95-48. Monroe will be competing at the Montgomery Team Camp from June 7th to June 10th.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hope Baptist | 36 | 59 | 95 |
| Monroe | 25 | 23 | 48 |
Newark Central Surges In Second Half To Defeat Piscataway, 68-43
While Monroe was taking on New Hope Baptist, Piscataway was entangled in a contest against Newark Central. Last time, GMC Hoops was at Kean, Newark Central came from behind in the second half to defeat East Brunswick AAU. This time, not only did Newark Central rally from behind, but also pulled away to win convincingly over the Chiefs. Piscataway led early on 10-4, but slowly and surely, Newark Central battled back to take a 25-22 lead on an 8-2 run over a span of 2:54 to take a 25-22 lead. From there, the Essex school took a five point lead into the locker room, and then proceeded to pull away with a 39-19 surge in the second half for a 68-43 victory.
The game started off in a 2-2 tie with 17:42 to go in the first half. P-Way then got a three pointer from the left wing for a 5-2 lead at the 17:22 mark. Over the next 1:48, Piscataway outscored Newark Central by a margin of 3-2 to take an 8-4 lead. The Chiefs added another score for a 10-4 edge at the 13:54 mark. Over the next 6:30, Newark Central fought back in the form of a 12-9 run that closed the gap to 19-16 with 7:24 left in the half. Each team then added a free throw in the ensuing 3:17 for a 20-17 P-Way edge. Newark Central then took over the game for good with eight of the next ten points in a span of nearly four minutes for a 25-22 lead. Central, which lost to T of C semifinalist, Newark University, in the North Jersey Section 2 Group I Championship, 61-60, made it an 11-2 run for a 28-22 lead with 23.1 seconds left.
Vik Singh helped Piscataway stay within striking distance as he netted two free throws with 3.9 seconds left before the half for a 28-24 Newark Central lead. The Newark school then closed out the half with one of two from the line with no time on the clock for a 29-24 advantage at the break. In the second half, Newark Central went on a pivotal 13-0 run that turned the contest from a single digit edge to a commanding lead. First, the Blue Devils, which play in a very tough division in the Super Essex Liberty with the likes of University, Group II Champion Shabazz, and Millburn, converted a traditional three point play at the 18 minute mark for a 32-24 lead. Tyjohn Young then passed back to Singh off the inbounds for a layup, and a 32-26 score with 16:41 left.
Newark Central, which went 20-7 overall including a 13-1 mark in league play, scored a layup on a nice give and go play at the 15:50 mark for a 34-26 lead. The Blue Devils then got another score and one of two free throws at the 14:02 mark for a 5-0 run, and 37-26 lead. The run then expanded to 10-0 with five more points over a span of 1:25 that included a tip-in at the 12:37 mark for a 42-26 lead. Newark Central then stole a Brian Wong pass, drove to the basket, and dished for a layup, and a 45-26 lead with 11:25 to go. Wong redeemed himself with a steal and dish to Young, who was fouled, and made both free throws for a 45-28 score with 10:48 left. Wong repeated the feat a little more than two minutes later as Devonte Smith converted the play with a layup that made the score, 49-32 at the 8:36 mark.
Just under a minute later, both teams had exchanged scores for a 51-34 Newark Central lead. P-Way then outscored the Blue Devils by a margin of 5-4 over the next 2:38 as Wong scored on a putback at the 5:05 mark for a 55-39 Central lead. However, Piscataway would get no closer as Newark Central went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:12 including a layin off a fast break at the 4:16 mark, and a fast break layup while being fouled for a three point play at the 2:53 mark for a 62-39 lead. The Devils then outscored the Chiefs by a 6-4 margin the rest of the way for the 68-43 win.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark Central | 29 | 39 | 68 |
| Piscataway | 24 | 19 | 43 |