Late Surge Lifts Freehold Boro Past Bears
MONROE, NJ–For the second straight week, the East Brunswick Bears were involved with a game that went down to the final minutes. Â This time though, EB was on the short end of the stick. Â Leading 39-36 after an 18-7 tear midway through the second half, EB gave way to a 15-6 finish by Freehold Boro in a 51-45 loss. Â The only points over the last 8:30 by the Bears were threes by Matt Perel with 2:04 and three seconds left. East Brunswick had at least eight threes in the game including four by Nick Fudali.
Like last week, East Brunswick dug itself an early hole as it fell behind 7-2 over the first 4:50 of the contest. Â The Bears would rally though with an 8-2 tear that included a jumper off the dribble and a three by Fudali to take a 10-9 lead midway through the first half. Â Freehold Boro, which brought a large group of fans, who showed plenty of spirit and enthusiasm, took over the game for the balance of the half by scoring eight straight points over a 2:11 span including a three at the 7:49 mark for a 17-10 advantage.
After EB got a score to pull within five, Freehold’s lead grew to double digits as the Colonials went on an 8-2 run that over the next 4:36 including two layups for a 25-14 lead. Â East Brunswick would narrow the gap to single digits again as the Bears scored the last five points of the first half including a scoop shot by Fudali and a three from the left corner by Ryan Ward to give Freehold Boro a 25-19 edge at the intermission. Â Although Freehold came out of the break fired up, EB would survive the initial flurry though, and battle back to not only tie the game, but take the lead.
Over the first 90 seconds of the second half, Freehold Boro scored 4 of the first 6 points to take a 29-21 lead. Â However, over the ensuing 10 minutes, the Bears rallied with an 18-7 tear that included a three by Perel, a putback by Billy Donahue, and a three by Fudali at the 8:30 mark for only EB’s second lead of the game at 39-36. Â The Colonials would battle back though with the next four points over a 1:44 span for a 40-39 lead at the 6:46 mark. Â Freehold then added another score at the 5:23 mark for a 42-39 edge. Â After Freehold Boro completed the 8-0 run with another score, Perel struck for a second trey to pull EB back within two at 44-42 with 2:04 to play.
Unfortunately, the Bears were unable to get any closer than that the rest of the way. Â Freehold Boro was able to make defensive plays, and get stops while drawing fouls and getting to the line twice to make two pairs of free throws at the 1:48 and 0:55 second marks before wrapping up the win with a two handed jam off a steal with under 10 seconds to play. Â Perel netted another three to help round out the scoring as Freehold won the game, 51-45. Â With the win, the Freehold Boro squad (Tune Squad Parr) improved to 3-0 on the spring while EB dropped to 2-1. Â The Bears will be back in action on April 24th against Team Nation HS on the Red Court at 8:55 PM.