Battle and Tyree Lead Falcons Past Blue Devils
| St. Joseph’s senior guard, Branislav Vujadinovic elevates for a three pointer in the second quarter against Westfield in the 2016 SFIC Festival at Kean University. The Falcons prevailed in overtime, 60-53. |
UNION, NJ–Coming off its most impressive win of the season on Thursday night against arch rival, and second ranked East Brunswick, the top ranked St. Joseph’s Falcons wrapped up the third week of its 2015-16 season with a contest against a game Westfield squad in the 2016 SFIC Festival at Kean University’s Harwood Arena. Like the game against Ramapo, the Falcons found its hands full against an opponent that was able to hang around by making the three point shot.
The Blue Devils of the Union County Conference made eight treys and outscored the Falcons by a margin of 24-9 from beyond the arc to force overtime, but St. Joseph’s prevailed in the extra session as Tyus Battle and Bree Tyree contributed to a decisive 9-2 run for the 60-53 victory. Battle finished with 21 points while Tyree chipped in with 12. Parker Hess led Westfield with 15 points including three treys while Owen Murray and Jelani Pierre each added 14. Hess sank the game tying three just before the buzzer at the end of regulation to force the extra session with the score tied at 51-51.
St. Joseph’s managed to prevail thanks to a 36-13 edge on the offensive glass as Tyree compiled a double-double with 10 rebounds while Battled grabbed 9 boards. Alanzo Frink, who scored the first points of overtime, contributed with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Khalif Battle played with more confidence after his solid effort in the win over EB with another 8 point game that included two threes while Xavier Townes came off the bench to play solid defense and score 6 points including four during an early third quarter 8-0 run that gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game at 39-30 with 5:17 left in the period. Branislav Vujadinovic rounded out the Joes scoring with 5 points including a trey from the right wing to end the first period for a 19-14 lead.
The game was a bit back and forth throughout, and a bit fast paced in the first half as both teams combined for 61 points over the first two periods. Pierre and Hess connected on threes in the early going to give Westfield a 6-2 lead before the Falcons rallied with five unanswered points including a steal for a one handed jam from the right side by Battle, who split two defenders en route to the rim, for a 7-6 lead at the 4:46 mark. Westfield then scored 8 of the next 14 points to take a 14-13 lead before St. Joseph’s scored the last six points of the period including Vujadinovic’s three just before the buzzer to end the first quarter. The Blue Devils opened the second quarter by scoring 11 of the first 17 points of the frame to tie the game at 25-25. Matt LaCorte contributed a three during the run for Westfield.
The Falcons finished the first half by scoring 6 of the last 11 points to take a 31-30 lead at the break, and then scored the first eight points of the second half including a layup by Townes for a 39-30 advantage just 2:43 into the third. Westfield refused to go away as it responded by putting together a 10-1 spurt over the next 5:01 including a layup with 16.2 seconds left in the period to tie the score at 40-40. St. Joseph’s, which slowed the tempo in the second half by spreading the floor out a bit, and taking some time off the clock, would go back in front entering the fourth when Battle scored on a reverse layup just before the buzzer for a 42-40 edge. Battle’s quarter ending score, sparked a 7-0 spurt by the Falcons that also included a two handed jam by Tyree and a three by Khalif Battle for a 47-40 lead with 5:43 remaining in regulation.
Westfield answered by scoring the next five points to pull within two before Battle, who had 13 points in the second half and the overtime, scored again on an acrobatic move to the hoop for a 49-45 lead with 3:31 left in the fourth. The Blue Devils remained undaunted though as Pierre sank a triple from the top of the key to pull them within one at 49-48 with two minutes remaining in the fourth. Neither team scored again until Battle drew a foul and made both ends of the bonus for a 51-48 lead with 13.2 seconds remaining in regulation. This all set the stage for Hess, who got the ball on the right wing and sank a long three with time running out to force the extra session with the score tied at 51-51. The extra session began with Joes taking the lead as Tyree drove to the hoop and dished to Frink for a layup, but Westfield quickly responded to tie the score again at 53-53 with 2:07 remaining in the overtime.
The Blue Devils wouldn’t score again as Joes finished the game with the final seven points including a jumper from the right elbow by Battle, who later sank a free throw for a 56-53 lead. Tyree then made two pairs of free throws over the final 30 seconds of play to wrap up the 60-53 victory. With the win, St. Joseph’s improved to 8-1 overall on the season including a 4-1 mark against non-conference opponents while Westfield, which began the season at 7-0, lost its third straight to fall to 7-3. St. Joseph’s returns to action next week with games against North Brunswick at home on Tuesday, January 12th, Perth Amboy on the road on January 14th, and then a contest against Paul VI of Fairfax, Virginia in the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, New Jersey on January 16th.