Three by Stevens Standout Crawford Sparks Tigers to 2nd Half Surge
| Woodbridge’s Keith Hughes puts up a three point shot between two Holy Family defenders for Georgian Court. Holy Family defeated GCU, 91-73. |
LAKEWOOD, NJ–Wednesday night marked the home opener and CACC conference opener for Georgian Court University, which has begun its third year of men’s basketball. The Lions were looking for their first win after dropping two games up at Stonehill College by a total of just 15 points over the weekend. Holy Family entered the contest with a 2-0 mark after winning its first two games over the weekend in New York.
The contest brought out a number of top former high school players from around Central Jersey, especially the Greater Middlesex Conference. Georgian Court has a roster with five former players from the GMC including former Woodbridge standout, Keith Hughes, who turned in a superb performance for the Lions. Former J.P. Stevens standout, Marvin Crawford played well for Holy Family and made a key play midway through the second half to sparked the Tigers to a 33-21 surge to pull away from a 58-52 lead for a 91-73 win.
Crawford scored 14 points in 21 minutes on 5 of 9 shooting from the floor including 2 of 5 from long distance while also netting both his attempts from the charity stripe. One of his threes came on a critical juncture and helped provide the difference in the Tigers win. After GCU’s Juwuan Carter (23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals) knocked down a three pointer from the left corner to narrow the deficit to 58-52 with 11:54 to play, Crawford responded with a trey of his own from the left wing at the 10:44 mark for a 61-53 Holy Family advantage. From that point on, the Tigers pulled away. Crawford also collected 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.
Hughes did his part to keep Georgian Court in the contest as long as possible. The former 1,000 point scorer at Woodbridge High School picked up his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Hughes shot 8 of 18 from the floor including two dunks while also making 2 of 3 from the foul line and handing out an assist. Former Perth Amboy, Cardinal McCarrick, and Bound Brook standout, J.D. Rodriguez chipped in with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while only committing one turnover. South Plainfield’s Claude Payne went 3 of 4 from the line for his 3 points in the game while former Amboy and Bound Brook standout, Hamilton Capellan also played for GCU.
Georgian Court played well on the inside with a 53-44 edge on the boards overall including a 20-11 advantage on the offensive glass. The Lions had a 30-20 edge in points scored in the paint, and an 18-15 advantage in second chance points. Despite committing more turnovers (21-18), GCU managed to take advantage of its extra opportunity with a 21-16 edge in points off of turnovers. However, Holy Family’s depth turned out to be the big difference in the end with a 38-10 showing in bench points. The Tigers also shot better with from the floor, especially from three point range, and the foul line.
According to stats kept by Holy Family University, the Tigers made 29 of 74 shots overall for 39.2 percent versus a 26 of 75 effort by GCU for 34.7 percent. Holy Family also shot 15 of 48 from downtown versus only 8 of 31 by the Lions. The visitors from Philadelphia also went 19 of 25 from the charity stripe versus only 13 of 21 by the home team. The game started out with both teams struggling to find a rhythm offensively. The two teams only exchanged leads five times and tied once, but they all occurred within the initial five or so minutes of the contest. Then, things began to pick up as Holy Family sank three treys during an 11-3 spurt for a 21-14 lead at about the 12 minute mark.
Georgian Court would rally though with a 7-0 run capped by a putback dunk by Hughes at the 8:45 mark for a 21-21 tie. Holy Family then went on an 11-5 run to take a 32-26 lead before Carter beat the shot clock with a three from the left side of the key at the 3:36 mark for a 32-29 Tigers lead. Holy Family then scored 8 of the next 10 points for a 40-31 lead, but Carter sank a three quarter court shot as time expired to close the gap to six at 40-34 going into the intermission. GCU made another run to start the second half to cut the deficit to three, but Holy Family scored 8 of 9 after that to take a 54-44 advantage as the Lions called for time at the 15:36 mark.
Led by Hughes, who converted a conventional three point play and Carter, who connected on a three, the Lions rallied with an 9-4 burst to pull within five at 58-53 with under 12 minutes to play. GCU wouldn’t get any closer as Crawford hit one of two threes to put the Tigers back up by eight with 10:44 to play. Holy Family then scored 13 of the next 20 points over a span of 5:24 to take a 74-60 lead, and never looked back as they led by as many as 21 in the final minutes before winning by 18. With the victory, Holy Family improved to 3-0 overall including a 1-0 mark in the CACC while Georgian Court fell to 0-3 including an 0-1 record in conference play.
GMC NOTES: It was a reunion of sorts for former J.P. Stevens standouts, Marvin Crawford and Brandon Ahmed, who is now playing at Georgian Court. The two were the stars on the J.P. Stevens Hawks squad that finished 9-17 in 2011-12. So far this season, Crawford is averaging 31 minutes, 14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per game for Holy Family. Keith Hughes is averaging 30 minutes, 14.6 points, and 8.0 rebounds per game for GCU. J.D. Rodriguez is averaging 28.6 minutes, 9.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and only 1.2 turnovers per game for Georgian Court.