Spotswood Wins Overtime Thriller Over Bound Brook To Win Crusader Classic
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The pick for GMC Hoops Game of the Week for the holiday tournaments and return to regular season play after the new year was a tough one. Â There were 11 games that GMC Hoops saw over the holidays that were decided by single digits including two that went to overtime. Â In addition, you could give a vote to East Brunswick and South Brunswick for their battle on Saturday afternoon won by the Vikings (59-56), or even to South Plainfield-Sayreville for their barnburner that the Tigers won at the Bomb Shelter (68-63) on Saturday evening.
However, we are going with the contest between Spotswood and Bound Brook for the Championship of the 2014 Bound Brook Crusader Classic at BBHS on December 29th. Â The Chargers moved into the GMC Hoops Top Ten for the first time this year by winning both games at the Crusader Classic en route to raising the winning streak to four straight following a victory at Dunellen on Saturday evening. Â In the opening round of the Crusader Classic, Spotswood got by Somerville, a team that the Chargers lost to in last year’s final. Â Eric Dadika pumped in a game high 34 points and last year’s Blue Division champion won the contest 60-54 to give head coach, Steve Mate his 300th victory.
Then came the final against Bound Brook, which defeated North Plainfield in the other opening round game. Â The Crusaders have grown by leaps and bounds under the direction of head coach, Anthony Melesurgo. Â Two years ago, Bound Brook played in the Central Jersey Group I championship before losing to Point Pleasant Beach. Â This year, the Crusaders, which moved up to the bigger school Raritan Division of the Skyland Conference, opened the season by scoring over 100 points versus Manville. Â Earlier in the day, GMC Hoops had been over in Hillsborough where North Brunswick had rallied with a 21-5 game ending surge to defeat the host school, 62-57. Â It looked like that game would be the favorite to earn the Week Two Game of the Week honors.
But Spotswood and Bound Brook had other ideas. Â Upon leaving Hillsborough High School, I had to charge the battery on my iPhone since it was down to only 11 percent. Â So, I spent about 20 minutes warming the car up before heading over to Bound Brook HS. Â By the time, I walked in to the gym, the battery was back up to 52 percent. Â It took me a while to get situated into the gym when I noticed that a section of the front row of bleachers on the spectator side was empty. Â When I go to Bound Brook, I usually sit behind the team benches so I have a clear view to shoot video, but this was hard to pass up. Â I wound up having a ringside seat to quite a game between to of the smaller schools in the Central Jersey area. Â Both teams put on a great show.
The game was close throughout. Â I arrived in the gym with a couple minutes remaining in the first half and Spotswood was leading at that point 31-30. Â The Chargers then got a three from Oliver Jiminez to go up by four before Bound Brook got a layup to end the first half for a 34-32 Chargers lead at the break. Â In the second half, Bound Brook got off to a fast start, and jumped out to the lead, but the game would have many twists and turns as both teams swapped leads on a number of occasions over the last 20 minutes of the contest. Â Neither team had a lead that was bigger than 5 points. Â The drama was riveting and the fans on both sides were passionate. Â Matt Ciaccio had some foul trouble in the second half, but managed to stay in until the end. Â Bound Brook got a dunk early in the fourth quarter to seize the momentum, but the Chargers didn’t give up. Â Eric Dadika fired in 23 points including two free throws with 20.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, and a three point play that gave Spotswood a 66-65 lead with under a minute to go in overtime.
Marlon Hart would be the hero in this one though. Â Thanks to a great skip pass by Dadika with time running out, Hart sank a three pointer with 3.2 seconds to play to give the Chargers a 69-66 lead. Bound Brook had a good look at the end, but the three pointer from the right wing as time expired was off the mark as Spotswood won. Â Good thing, Hart hit that three because the battery on my iPhone had gone back down to 4 percent. Â Had the game continued, there might have been no video or tweets on the ending of the game. Â The Chargers have played in the Bound Brook Crusader Classic since 2007, and have appeared in five Championship Games with four titles (2008, 2009, 2011, and 2014). Â Congratulations Spotswood on a great win, and congratulations to both teams on a well played game.