Levitt Leads EB In Come From Behind Victory
METUCHEN, NJ–The success that both second ranked East Brunswick and top ranked St. Joseph’s have both enjoyed over the last five years can be attributed to the solid foundation each program has built at the freshmen and JV levels. The fine talent at these lower levels were on display prior to the varsity game with two very close games. Both went down to the wire including the GMC Hoops Freshmen Game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
Trailing 34-32 with under a minute to play, the Bear Cubs of East Brunswick rallied from behind with the last four points of the game in the final 30 seconds for a thrilling 36-34 victory. Ezra Levitt, who had a game high 18 points including 12 in the second half, came up with a steal for a layup to tie the score at 34-34 with 23 seconds left, and then he netted two free throws following a technical foul call on St. Joe’s with 7.9 seconds remaining to put EB on top for good. Gowtham Balaji chipped in with 8 points including 6 in the third quarter when the Bear Cubs took a 29-22 lead.
Led by Farr’s 8 first half points, St. Joseph’s jumped out to a 14-7 lead with 4:46 to go before the intermission, but East Brunswick responded with a 22-8 run over the next 12:46 to take the seven point lead heading into the final period of play. The Little Falcons, which were led by Michael Farr and Dexter Jackson, who shared the team high with 12 points, rallied with a 9-0 spurt over the first 5:57 of the final frame to retake the lead at 31-29 before Levitt swiped a steal for a layup with just over two minutes left to put EB ahead by one again as Joes called for time. Farr and Jackson contributed to the run with a layup by Farr at the 5:22 mark, and a bank shot by Jackson at the 4:04 mark.
Following the timeout, the Little Falcons got the ball to Jackson on the right wing for a three pointer to move back out in front by the score of 34-32. St. Joe’s then got a stop on defense, and had a chance to go up by two scores, but was called for traveling prior to East Brunswick calling a timeout with 1:18 left. After the timeout, Joes got another stop on defense, but when they brought the ball back up court, Levitt anticipated a cross court pass perfect, and leaped up to steal it, dribble the ball downcourt, and score on a layup to tie the game again at 34-34 with under 30 seconds left. St. Joseph’s still had a chance to win the game, but failed to score, and was called for a technical foul. Levitt then made both free throws for a 36-34 lead.
The Little Falcons had one last chance to score. First they got the ball up to midcourt before calling a timeout with 3.2 seconds left. On the enusing inbounds in front of the scorer’s table, St. Joe’s inbounded the ball to Farr at the top of the key, who then dribbled with his back to the basket, turned, and fired up a three that was off the mark as time expired with EB winning, 36-34. Both teams have enjoyed success at the lower levels. Since 2008, East Brunswick has reached two Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney finals and three Final Fours while Joes has reached the Final Four six times since then, and won two titles.