Three Point Plays by Battle, Tyree, and West Highlight 17-8 Surge in 4th for Win
| St. Joseph’s senior, Tyus Battle elevates for a jumper in the 3rd quarter against Old Bridge. Battle scored 10 of his 16 points in the 2nd half while teammate Bree Tyree scored 21 of his 27 in the second half to lead the Falcons to a hard fought, 70-63 win. |
OLD BRIDGE, NJ–With the 2016 GMCT just around the corner, Old Bridge was looking to get another big win against a Top Five team in the GMC Hoops Top Ten. The Knights did get a nice crossover win over then fourth ranked Sayreville almost two weeks ago, but have had close losses against top ranked St. Joseph’s and East Brunswick earlier in the month. Old Bridge had another opportunity on Thursday evening when the top ranked Falcons came into town for a GMC Red Clash. The Knights made the most of their opportunity, but again were denied that signature win.
Despite a magnificent 34 point performance by Connor Romano that included six three pointers, and Old Bridge’s 30-18 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, St. Joseph’s was able to escape with a 70-63 victory thanks to a game ending 17-8 spurt. University of Mississippi bound, Bree Tyree, who led the Falcons with 27 points including 21 in the second half, had a conventional three point play as well as Syracuse bound Tyus Battle, and junior Letrell West (5 points) to highlight the decisive run. Battle scored 10 of his 16 over the final two periods while Branislav Vujadinovic added 13 including two scores to spark the late rally, and sophomore Alanzo Frink chipped in with 11 including 9 in the first half.
Kyle Parris added 17 for Old Bridge as he and Romano combined to score 51 of the Knights 63 points in the contest. Both teams combined for 16 three pointers in the contest, but St. Joseph’s held a 42-22 advantage in points off two point field goals. Free throws were basically even with OBHS outscoring the Falcons by an 11-10 margin at the charity stripe while going 11 of 13 versus just 10 of 12 by Joes. The Falcons also enjoyed a 2-1 edge in dunks. There were 12 lead changes and two ties in the contest while neither team had a lead bigger than six points before Joes put together the pivotal run of the game over the last 4:21 of the fourth.
Old Bridge opened the scoring with a layup from the left low block by Parris off an entry pass by Romano. Tyree countered with a jumper from the right baseline off an inbounds pass before Will Osvald drew a foul, and made one of two for a 3-2 lead. Vujadinovic then put St. Joseph’s in front at 5-3 with a three pointer from the top of the key at the 5:39 mark. Old Bridge netted a three pointer for a 6-5 edge before the Falcons answered with a basket to go back in front at 7-6 when the Knights called time at the 5:01 mark of the first. A little more than a minute later, the Knights took an 8-7 lead on an alleyoop pass from Romano to Parris for a two handed slam.
St. Joseph’s scored the next four points for an 11-8 lead before Old Bridge answered with a 9-2 spurt to end the first quarter for a 17-13 lead. Romano had seven points during the run including two nifty drives for layup and a three pointer from the left wing to end the period. On one of those two drives for layups, he used a behind the back dribble to get past a Falcons defender for a score. Over the first 3:11 of the period, the Knights scored 10 of the 18 points including a three by Stephen Strom to increase its lead to 27-21 with under five minutes left in the first half. Joes then rallied with 7 of the last 9 points of the second to pull within one at 29-28 going into the intermission.
Frink sparked the run by getting to the line for two free throws while Tyree also added a bucket. St. Joseph’s then took the lead to start the third as Tyree found an opening, and attacked the rack with authority as he went into low earth orbit before coming down with a slam within the first minute of the second half. Tyree then got into the open court after getting another steal, and went up for another emphatic slam, but Romano got black, and stripped the ball away. Romano’s defensive stop sparked Old Bridge as it scored 7 of the next 9 points including another trey by Romano before Battle sank a pull-up jumper from the right side to close the gap to 36-34 at the 4:49 mark. The Knights then scored 12 of the next 22 points including threes by Romano and junior reserve, Rich Calandrino for a 48-44 lead with under a minute to go in the third. Old Bridge held that four point advantage heading into the fourth.
St. Joseph’s scored the first five points of the final stanza including a three point play by Tyree at the 7:10 mark for a 49-48 lead. The Knights responded with the next four points for a 52-49 lead before Joes got a three from Vujadinovic, and a free throw for a 53-52 lead. Romano then sank another triple with under four and a half minutes to play for a 55-53 lead. St. Joseph’s then scored five unanswered including two scores by Vujadinovic for a 58-55 lead at the 2:47 mark before Zach Attianese came up with a huge steal, dribbled into the Old Bridge frontcourt, stopped, and then kicked out to a trailing Romano for a three pointer from the right wing for a 58-58 tie. The game wasn’t deadlocked for long as Battle knifed in from the right side for a layup as he was fouled and made the bonus free throw for a 61-58 edge with 2:01 remaining.
The Falcons stepped up the pressure on the defensive end, and got another stop before Tyree converted a traditional three point play of his own for a 64-58 lead before Old Bridge called time with 1:05 to go. Romano then drew a foul on a three point attempt from the left wing, and made all three free throws to close the gap to 64-61, but Battle was fouled a short time later and made two free throws for a 66-61 lead. Parris was fouled at the other end on Old Bridge’s next possession, and made to charity shots to pull the Knights within three again at 66-63, but they were unable to get any closer. West went in for a breakaway layup and was fouled as it went in for another conventional three point play for a 69-63 lead with 24.4 seconds left. Tyree then added another foul shot in the closing seconds to wrap up the 70-63 victory.
With the win, St. Joseph’s improved to 13-2 overall on the season including a 10-0 mark in the GMC Red. Old Bridge fell to 9-5 overall including a 4-5 record in divisional play. The Knights return to action on Saturday with a GMC Crossover match-up with J.P. Stevens that had been scheduled a week earlier, but was postponed due to the recent blizzard. Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s doesn’t play again until they travel to East Brunswick next Tuesday night.