UNION, NJ–For the first time this summer, GMC Hoops traveled over to Kean University to take in the fourth night of action from the Kean Pre-Summer League at Harwood Arena. Three GMC teams were in action during the final hour of play including Carteret and Monroe, which were playing against each other, and East Brunswick, which was taking on Newark Central. Piscataway had played earlier in the evening. This league had gotten underway on May 18th, and finshes up on June 10th.
Carteret Rolls Past Shorthanded Monroe, 68-33
Monroe, which had played earlier in the week in the Showcase round of games against Neptune at the 2010 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League. So, the Falcons didn’t have their varsity players in attendance on this night. Carteret took advantage. The Ramblers jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first 13 minutes, and led 37-15 at halftime en route to a 68-33 victory. The Ramblers scored five points in the next 1:38 to take a 27-9 lead at the 5:22 mark. Neither team scored for the next 1:04 before Carteret called for time at the 4:18 mark, but after that, Monroe scored a basket while being fouled with 3:51 to go in the half, but missed the bonus free throw for a 27-11 score.
Carteret got another basket to go back up by 18, but Monroe got those points back with two free throws at the 2:53 mark. Carteret then got an unconventional four point play as it scored on a basket and a foul, missed the bonus free throw, but grabbed the offensive board, and put in the follow for a 31-13 lead. The Ramblers then made one of two from the line, and on the missed second free throw, got another offensive rebound, but missed the follow. Once again though, CHS got another offensive board, and put in the follow this time for a 34-13 lead with 1:45 left. Carteret then scored underneath with just under a minute to go in the first half for a 36-13 lead en route to the 22 point lead at the intermission.
In the second half, Carteret increased its lead to 24 on a 10-8 run over the first 7:26 for a 46-22 score with 12:34 to play. The Ramblers then scored 8 of the next 11 points to take a 54-25 lead at the 10:25 mark. CHS coasted for a while with a 56-28 lead until the 5:10 mark when Carteret got a field goal. The Ramblers responded with seven straight points over the next 3:07 including a three point play at the 2:03 mark for a 63-30. Carteret then closed the game with a 5-3 run for the 68-33 victory. With the win, the Ramblers improved to 3-1 on the spring while the Falcons dropped to 1-4.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carteret (3-1) | 37 | 31 | 68 |
| Monroe (1-4) | 15 | 18 | 33 |
Newark Central Rallies In Second Half To Defeat EB AAU, 46-39
After watching the first half of the contest between Carteret and Monroe, GMC Hoops moved over to an adjacent court to watch the second half of a very good contest between East Brunswick’s AAU, which just had five players, and Newark Central. EB AAU jumped out to a 23-15 lead at the intermission. It lead by a 31-27 margin as late as 7:20 remaining in the game, but the Blue Devils closed the game with a 19-8 spurt to pull out the hard fought, 46-39 victory. Newark Central outscored East Brunswick AAU by a 31-16 margin in the final twenty minutes of play.
Neither team scored for almost the first two minutes of the second half before Anthony Guisti got East Brunswick going by drawing a foul down low, and making both free throws for a 25-15 lead at the 18:08 mark. Newark Central didn’t get on the board until the 16:46 mark when it got an offensive rebound off an own miss, and put in the follow to make the score, 25-17. The Blue Devils crept within six on a drive inside for a left handed layup that made the score, 25-19 with 14:38 left. EB then called for a timeout at the 14:09 mark. Following the stoppage, John Genco passed to Dan Sclafani for a three pointer from the top of the key for a 28-19 lead with 13:43 remaining.
Newark Central then scored on a fast break layup, and promptly swiped a steal for a jumper that closed the gap to 28-23 with 13:04 to go. East Brunswick then called for another timeout at the 12:21 mark. Following the stoppage, Newark Central continued to peck away at the deficit with a baseline drive for a layup at the 11:40 mark for a 28-25 EB lead. Genco then drew a foul on a layup attempt that produced one of two from the line at the 9:29 mark for a 29-25 lead, but the Blue Devils, which lost to eventual T of C semifinalist, Newark University in the Championship Game of the North Jersey Section 2 Group I State Tournament this past season, got a layup at the 8:55 mark for a 29-27 score. There was a bit of a lull in the scoring before Genco found Kevin Lantz for a layup from the left side for a 31-27 lead at the 7:20 mark. Newark Central came right back down for another fast break layup to pull within two again at 31-29 with 7:03 to go.
Following a timeout at the 6:59 mark, there was a lull in the scoring for two minutes until Newark Central tied the game at 31-31 on two free throws at the 4:59 mark. Another minute went by with no scoring before EB called for time at the 3:59 mark. Emerging from the timeout, the Blue Devils got the ball, and scored on a hook shot while being fouled for a three point play, 19-8 run, and a 34-31 lead with 3:51 remaining. Just under a minute later, Newark Central was back at it again with a nice entry pass down low for a layup in the right low block while being fouled, and made the bonus free throw for a conventional three point play, and a 37-31 lead with 2:54 left.
Newark Central had a chance to go up by even more, but missed the front end of a one and one at the 1:49 mark. East Brunswick missed a one and one, but Lantz got the offensive board, and put in the follow at the 1:41 mark for a 37-33 Blue Devil lead. Central came right back up the floor though, and got a field goal for a 39-33 advantage with a minute and a half to go. EB continued to battle though as Guisti connected on a three pointer from the right side for a 39-36 Newark Central lead with 1:22 remaining. Fouling quickly, EB forced the Blue Devils to the line where they made the first of the bonus, but committed a violation on the second for a 40-36 edge with 1:14 to play. Newark Central got a stop, and was fouled, which produced two free throws at the 1:03 mark for a 42-36 lead.
East Brunswick was unable to get a three, or a field goal to stay within striking distance, and was forced to foul again with 54.5 seconds left on the clock. Newark Central hit another two free throws for an eight point, 44-36 lead. EB got within five as Sclafani kicked out to Guisti for a three pointer from the left side, and a 44-39 score with 38.3 seconds to go. However, the Bears were unable to get any closer as Newark Central got another two points down the stretch to wrap up the 46-39 victory. With the loss, East Brunswick dropped to 1-3 on the season.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark Central | 15 | 31 | 46 |
| East Brunswick (1-3) | 23 | 16 | 39 |
GMC Hoops was back out at the Kean Pre-Summer League on June 3rd, and had a summary posted on that night’s action as well.