NJIT Bound Senior Helped Lead Bears To East Coast Conditioning Fall League Title
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Back in October, the East Brunswick Bears made a tremendous run through a very tough field in the playoff round of the 2012 East Coast Conditioning Fall League. EB defeated a Rutgers Prep squad in the quarterfinals that beat them two weeks earlier. Then, the Bears defeated Linden in the semifinals and St. Patrick’s in the championship. One player that played a pivotal role in that title run was senior Rob Ukawuba.
Ukawuba, a four year varsity player, who will be attending NJIT next fall, made shots from all angles using his fine shooting touch and a blend of finesse and power that is quite unique. In the 56-46 victory over Rutgers Prep in the quarterfinals, Ukawuba had a team high 26 points including 13 in the first quarter when the Bears jumped out to a 19-9 lead that it would never relinquish. Then in the semifinals, Ukawuba pumped in 20 points including 15 in the first half to lead EB to a 33-15 lead en route to a 44-32 victory.
Finally, in the Championship against St. Patrick’s (now known as the Patrick School), Ukawuba got off to another fast start with 9 first quarter points to give EB a 19-11 lead. He then came up with a nice dish to Jake Krantz for a score that gave the Bears a 44-37 lead, and added a bucket as he was fouled for a 48-40 lead. Ukawuba ended up with 16 points in the win. The EB senior is quite a physical specimen, who has the ability to go to the basket, shoot the three, find his teammates for scores, and throw it down with the best of them.
As a freshman, Ukawuba earned GMC Hoops Freshmen of the Year honors as he helped the Bears reach the quarterfinals of the 2010 GMCT Tournament. Ukawuba has also earned All GMC Hoops honors as well in 2011 and 2012. He also earned GMC Hoops Player of the Week Honors back in 2011 with a solid performance against Piscataway that included a near perfect effort at the foul line. Congratulations Rob and best of luck this upcoming season.