Little and Garay Score In Final Minute To Lift Pats Past Tigers
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–It is never easy for Amboy Tech when it comes to playing its long time Gold Division rival, E.B. Tech. Regardless of what the records of the two teams are coming into the game, the Patriots often times are pushed to the brink by the Tigers. The third meeting of the season between these two schools was another example of that as East Brunswick Tech rallied from a six point deficit with just over two minutes remaining to tie the game with just over a minute to play.
Amboy Tech still managed to pull out the win though thanks to a breakaway dunk by junior big man, Jordan Little with 56 seconds left, and then two free throws by Noel Garay with 36.2 seconds left to earn a hard fought, 49-47 victory at The Maze on the campus of E.B. Tech. Little had another monster game for the Patriots. After getting 19 points including four dunks, and 27 rebounds in a loss at home versus South River a week ago, the 6’7″ junior shined brightly again under the GMC Hoops spotlight with a 24 point, 33 rebound performance.
Garay chipped in with 10 points including six from the foul line. E.B. Tech’s Mark Alston, who also played football at South River, and scored 43 points the last time these two teams met at Amboy Tech, led all scorers with 36 points as he continued to post big numbers. Led by Alston, the Tigers outscored the Patriots by a margin of 18-3 from long distance. Alston had four of those threes as he scored 15 points in the first half, and 19 in the second half. Little, who scored 13 in the first half, had a tough time getting going at the start as East Brunswick Tech stymied Amboy Tech with a zone defense that packed it in on the big man. He eventually did get going though as the game opened up thanks to some full court pressure and trapping by the Patriots.
East Brunswick Tech jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and led for almost the entire first half. Amboy Tech did go on a 7-2 run towards the end of the first to pull within one, but then the Tigers regained control with a 6-2 burst to end the first for a 14-9 lead. Alston, who opened the game with a three, scored 12 of E.B. Tech’s points in the first frame. The second saw the Tigers extend its lead to 22-15 on an 8-6 run, but then the Patriots responded with 10 of the last 11 points to take its first lead of the game, and go into the intermission with a 25-23 edge. Little scored 8 of his points in the frame while Garay chipped in with 4 points, and guard Kyrie Byers netted a three. The third quarter saw the game tighten up a little bit as the Tigers outscored the Patriots by a margin of 11-10. Alston led the charge with 8 points including a three while Little scored 6 points.
The fourth saw, E.B. Tech retake the lead with a 5-1 burst at the start of the period before Amboy Tech responded with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes or so to take a 45-39 lead with 2:14 remaining. During that time, the Tigers called three timeouts to try and stop the Patriots momentum. The final timeout did the trick as East Brunswick Tech regrouped with six unanswered points over the next 40 seconds including a three point play by Saadiq Riles to tie the score at 45-45. Following an Amboy Tech timeout, the Pats found Little wide open at the E.B. Tech end of the floor for a two handed flush with 59.6 seconds left, and a 47-45 lead. The Tigers answered with a score of its own by Enudy Jiminez to tie it up again at 47-47. Garay then drew a foul with 36.2 seconds left and netted both free throws for a 49-47 lead.
East Brunswick Tech had a couple opportunities to score down the stretch, but were unable to, and Perth Amboy Tech was able to survive with a 49-47 victory. The previous two times these two teams met including the semifinals of the NJTAC Holiday Tournament at Somerset Tech, the Patriots defeated the Tigers by at least 15 points. With the win, Amboy Tech improved to 5-4 on the season including a 3-4 mark in the GMC Gold while E.B. Tech dropped to 2-8, and remains winless in Gold Division play.