NORTH EDISON, NJ–Before making its first trip to the Monroe Sports Center Fall League for the first time in a month, GMC Hoops drove over to the East Coast Conditioning Fall League in Edison to take in some of the action there. The site saw the first game of the evening at 6:00 PM between Piscataway and Bridgewater. The Chiefs were able to pull away from a close game in the second half to defeat the Panthers.
Piscataway Pulls Away In The Second Half To Defeat Bridgewater, 55-46
On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops made a trip over to the East Coast Conditioning Sports Complex in North Edison to take in the 6:00 PM game between Bridgewater-Raritan and Piscataway in the fall league there. Â The Chiefs hung on to defeat Woodbridge by the score of 46-40 after jumping out to an 18-5 first quarter lead while Bridgewater went on a 23-1 surge to break away from a 32-25 lead for a 57-39 win over Governor Livingston.
In this contest, the Chiefs drew first blood when Greg Davis drove in from the right side for a layup, and a 2-0 lead. Â Bridgewater responded with a three for a 3-2 edge when P-Way called for time a minute into the contest. Â Following the timeout, Bridgewater swiped a steal, and drew a foul on a subsequent drive for two free throws, and a 5-2 lead at the 8:05 mark. Â Piscataway struggled to get a rhythm offensively as its former Mid-State Conference foe poked away steals on a couple more occasions, but couldn’t take advantage.
The Chiefs then ended a three minute scoring drought when Clarence Morris pulled up for a jumper just inside the foul line to close the gap to 5-4 at the 8:45 mark of the first quarter. Â Bridgewater came right back down to score a layup for a 7-4 lead with 8:34 left in the opening frame. Â Piscataway started to get going by stepping up on defense. Â The result were a couple of scoring opportunities that produced a layup, and a three pointer by Marcus Freeney for a 9-7 lead at the 3:22 mark. Â A little more than a minute later, Davis added two free throws for a 7-0 run, and a 11-7 lead at the 2:14 mark.
Bridgewater closed the first period with a jumper from the left elbow that got a kind bounce at the 49 second mark for a 11-9 P-Way lead. Â Vik Singh got going for the Chiefs in the second by opening the frame with a layup, and then after the Panthers scored to pull within two again, the senior forward drew a charge to prevent a tying score. Â Building off the momentum from Singh’s fine defensive play, Piscataway got two more scores including a bucket by Jelani Jackson to take a 17-11 lead at the 6:16 mark. Â The Panthers continued to battle though with a three pointer, and then another score to draw within one at the 4:20 mark.
After Piscataway got a bucket to take a 19-16 lead, the Panthers tied the score with a three point play at the 1:32 mark before calling time. Â Bridgewater had a chance to take the lead, but hit backiron on a foul line jumper. Â The Chiefs got the defensive rebound, and put together a nice fast break capped by a layin from Davis for a 21-19 lead at the 1:05 mark of the second period. Â P-Way went on to take a 21-20 lead at the intermission. Â There were three lead changes and one tie. Â
Things started off very well for the Chiefs as Freeney netted a three pointer from the left wing at the 9:30 mark, and then Davis followed up with a score at the 9:07 mark for a 26-20 lead. Â Bridgewater again battled back with six unanswered points on two threes including one made at the 7:45 mark to tie the score at 26-26. Â After the two teams exchanged scores, Thaddeus Dalton got his own rebound off a missed hook shot, and drew a foul, but misfired on both foul shots at the 4:00 mark of the third. Â Davis would pick up his teammate though by taking an inbounds pass on the left wing for a three at the 2:40 mark for a 31-28 lead.
After Bridgewater tied the score with a three pointer of its own at the 2:30 mark, P-Way went back out in front with a 5-0 run including a layup off a steal for a 36-31 lead after three quarters. Â Up to this point in the game, BRHS had nearly half of its points off threes. Â Piscataway had a chance early on in the fourth to go up by more, but failed to score on a 3 on 1 fast break. The Chiefs were still able eventually to build on its lead though as Davis hit a floater at the 9:00 mark, and then Morris pulled up for a jumper from the right wing at the 8:25 mark for a 40-31 lead. Â
Piscataway increased that lead to 11 on a couple occasions later in the fourth as Singh scored a layup as he was fouled at the 3:03 mark, and then P-Way got another bucket with 2:30 to go. Â Bridgewater-Raritan nailed a three from the top of the key with two minutes remaining to draw within eight at 47-39. Â After Singh helped the Chiefs maintain a comfortable lead with two free throws, Bridgeewater netted another three to creep within seven at 51-44 as the Panthers called for time at the 1:40 mark. Â Following the timeout, the Somerset County team drew within five, but couldn’t get any closer as Davis made two pairs of free throws down the stretch to seal the 55-46 victory.