RAHWAY, NJ–After being over at the Linden Summer League for the second straight day to see all four games from the Tuesday/Thursday Division schedule at LHS, GMC Hoops traveled down St. George’s Avenue to get over to Rahway High School for the final game of the evening there. It was the first time this summer that the site was at the Rahway Summer League, which is in its second year.
In the nightcap on Thursday, Edison broke away from a 12-9 lead with 7:55 to go in the half with a 16-2 tear led by soon to be senior, Sean Gibney, who had 9 points including two threes during the run. EHS, which had two soon to be sophomores in the rotation for this game, fought valiantly in the second half with a 17-7 tear over the first 13:03 of the period to pull within seven at 35-28 with just under seven minutes to play. However, the Eagles couldn’t get any closer as the Destroyers came away with the hard fought, 45-36 win.
Dunellen Surges To End First Half, And Then Hangs On For 45-36 Victory Over Edison
Over a span of 8:41 from the 7:55 mark of the first half to the opening minute of the second half, the Dunellen Destroyers had outscored the Edison Eagles by a margin of 21-4 to turn a slim three point edge into a 20 point cushion. The duo of Gibney and Deon Brown had a lot to do with that as Gibney scored 9 points including two threes while Brown had two points, two assists, and two rebounds during the run. Dunellen nailed four three pointers while converting a traditional three point play to highlight the run.
Playing without the likes of big men Jeff Renner and Qassim Bass-Ali, the Eagles had to rely on youngsters Jalen Jackson and Jordan Westbrook, two players from a EHS freshmen team that went 16-5 this past season, and finished third in the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament. Jackson had two of Edison’s four points during the run with a steal for a layup as he was fouled at the 1:25 mark to end a six and a half minute scoring drought. To their credit, the Eagles didn’t give up though.
With the likes of soon to be senior Kevin Luckenbach and soon to be junior Marcus Cudjoe leading the way, the Eagles went on a 15-2 run spanning 12:17 to pull within seven points at 35-28 with 6:57 remaining. During the span, Luckenbach collected 6 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and two steals. Cudjoe added five points while Jackson added a layin off a lob pass by Luckenbach after the freshman poked away a steal at the 13:06 mark of the second half. Edison closed to within seven points on five occasions, and pulled within eight once over the final 6:57 of the contest, but couldn’t get any closer.
Jackson ended up with 6 points and 3 blocks over the final 21:25 of the contest. Luckenbach ended up with 11 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds over the final 18:33 of the game. Brown turned out to be the difference down the stretch as he scored 6 points over the final 6:07 including 4 of 5 from the foul line in the last 1:06. He also handled the ball a great deal to help secure the Destroyer victory. Gibney only had two points in the second half along with an assist, and ended up with 11 points over the last 25:19 of the contest.
Over the last 27:55 of the contest, Dunellen outscored Edison by a margin of 33-27. In that, time, DHS connected on 11 field goals including four threes, and made 7 of 11 foul shots. While the Destroyers were held without a three pointer over the final 19:23 of the game, had a scoring drought of 9:19, and managed only one field goal over a span of 13:07, they still managed to come away with the victory thanks to a 6 of 8 showing from the foul line in the final minute and change of the contest.
Meanwhile, Edison, which had only two field goals for a span of 9:22, ended up with 12 field goals in the final 27:55, but was only 3 of 8 from the charity stripe over the last 19:01 of the contest. The Eagles were also outscored by a 12-0 margin from beyond the arc as well as a 7-3 margin from the foul line. Edison only had three field goals over the final 5:40 of the contest, and was 2 of 6 from the foul line in the last 4:40.
Key sequences that hurt Edison’s chances of winning the game came in the 14th minute of the second half when Dunellen got a huge block that prevented the Eagles from scoring to make it a five point game. Soon after, Brown got a layup that ended the 15-2 EHS tear for a 37-28 lead. The Eagles had another chance to draw within five at the 1:29 mark, but Cudjoe, who was 1 of 4 from the line in the second half, missed both free throws, and subsequently fouled Brown, who made his two free throws at the 1:06 mark for a 41-32 lead.
GMC Hoops was back out at Rahway on Friday night for a full four game set.