Rivalry Renewed in the GMC Red as Second Ranked Bears Pay a Visit to Top Ranked Joes
METUCHEN, NJ–Through the years, the rivalry between the East Brunswick Bears and the St. Joseph’s Falcons has always been intense. The names at East Brunswick such as Rowe, Berliner, Motusesky, Zahn, Fortay, Charleston, and van Leeuwen have been replaced more recently by the likes of Ross, Bell, Ukawuba, Baumer, Taylor, Krantz, Ross, Ralph, and Vick while at St. Joseph’s, the names of Bornheimer, Moglia, DeRocckis, Williams, Uszenski, Bocage, Wilson, Dixon, Scott, Cannon, Bynum, Baptiste, and Widgeon have been replaced more recently by the likes of Rennard, DeCosey, Brix, Long, Towns, Baldwin, Townes, Owen, Tyree, Vujadinovic, and Battle. Although these names have changed, the fierce spirit of this long time rivalry has remained and has even become more passionate in recent years.
On Thursday night at St. Joseph’s Maglio Gymnasium, these two proud and great programs of the Greater Middlesex Conference will do battle again for the top spot in not only the GMC Red, but also the Greater Middlesex Conference. The second ranked Bears, which are looking to return to the GMCT Final after being knocked off by eventual champion Colonia last year, is looking to make a better representation of themselves after being soundly defeated by the top ranked Falcons the last two years at Joes. Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s is looking to finally show that it is back as a player in terms of this year’s state playoffs and Tournament of Champions, where the Falcons won the first ever T of C title by a Middlesex County team in boys basketball two years ago.
Both teams come into this game playing fairly well although East Brunswick has had a bit of a layoff since rolling past West Windsor-Plainsboro North and West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the Brunswick-Windsor Classic over the holidays. This will be the first time the Bears are playing in 2016. Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s has already played twice with a 74-41 win over Piscataway this past Saturday and a 70-65 decision over a game and much improved Old Bridge squad on Tuesday night. EB enters the contest undefeated at 4-0 with an average margin of victory of about 19 points per game. St. Joseph’s enters the contest with a 5-1 margin with its only loss to Gill-St. Bernard’s in the Championship Game of the Playaz Jingle Bells Jubilee over the holidays in Paterson. St. Joseph’s has already played a tough schedule with three wins over ranked teams in the GMC: 3rd ranked South Brunswick (58-42) on opening night, 10th ranked Piscataway on Saturday, and 4th ranked Old Bridge on Tuesday. They also defeated Ramapo at the Tip-Off Classic, and then Columbia and Paterson Eastside at the Jingle Bells Jubilee.
Both teams come in with plenty of firepower as EB returned its top three scorers from last year in Matt Ross, Addis Ralph, and Mike Vick. Ross averaged 25 points per game over the first week of the season, and led all scorers with 15 in the win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North on day one of the Brunswick-Windsor Classic. Vick only had 6 points in the opening night win over North Brunswick, but handed out 10 assists. Addis Ralph had 14 as well as a ton of blocked shots in the win over WWPN. St. Joseph’s counters with two division one commits in Syracuse bound, Tyus Battle, who was the first player in the GMC to go over 1,000 points for his career this season in the game against Ramapo, and Mississippi bound Bree Tyree, who is also closing in on the 1,000 point milestone with 849 career points as of Tuesday night. The Falcons also have St. Anthony’s transfer, Alanzo Frink, the younger brother of Central Connecticut State standout, Jerome Frink, Branislav Vujadinovic, freshman Khalif Battle, and P-Way Tech transfer Letrell West.
The Falcons have yet to fire on all pistons this season. They’ve emerged victorious in hard fought battles over Ramapo and Old Bridge, and had a tough battle with Morristown during the off-season in the Immaculata Fall League. All three of these teams used the three point shot to hang with St. Joe’s all the way until the end. The Falcons talent proved to be the difference each time with Battle and Tyree leading the way. Against Ramapo, Battle and Tyree scored 26 of their 31 points in the second half. The other night against Old Bridge, Battle scored 21 while Tyree added 18 in the win. How St. Joseph’s defends EB on the three point line will be key. There will be a tremendous focus on Ross, but Addis Ralph has expanded his game to hit the three point shot with regularity while Vick as well as fellow starter Mike Brizuela and sophomore Joe Sampson are threats from the perimeter as well. EB will have to make things happen by forcing turnovers and scoring in transition like it did early on in last year’s contest at Joes.
East Brunswick has to be wary of big runs by St. Joseph’s. In each of the last two meetings at St. Joe’s, the Falcons have put together big surges to put the game away. EB has to be able to sustain its game plan for 32 minutes not 16 like it has had each of the last two years. Conversely, the Falcons have to put EB away if they put the Bears on the ropes. St. Joe’s can’t afford to let East Brunswick hang around for that will give the Bears the same type of confidence they had on opening night of the 2012-13 when they last defeated the Falcons.