Bulter Lifts Raiders Past Bombers in Opening Night Thriller
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| North Brunswick’s Jhonell Brown goes behind the back with the dribble as Sayreville’s Derek Astarita defends in their GMC White opening night clash won by the Raiders in double overtime, 91-86. |
NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ–The 2016-17 edition of the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division might be closer than originally thought. One of the larger school divisions in the GMC, the White was projected in the pre-season to come down to two teams: Woodbridge and top ranked Sayreville.
With seven players returning and adding St. Joseph’s transfer Xavier Townes along with JV standout, Zac Kaczmarek, the Sayreville Bombers appeared to have all the ingredients in place to make a run to the 2017 GMCT Championship in February. However, an upstart North Brunswick squad coming down from the GMC Red had other ideas.
Weathering an early Sayreville storm that saw the Bombers score 12 of the first 16 points of the game, and lead by as many as 13 points in the first half, North Brunswick was able to limit the Bombers to just 25 points in the second half, and force overtime after two free throws by Quadir Bulter in the last 20 seconds of regulation. The game endured several more twists and turns in the two extra sessions before a winner was determined.
North Brunswick, which appeared to have Sayreville on the ropes in the first overtime before Xavier Townes scored on a layup as he was fouled with 38 seconds to go, and then made one of two from the line with three seconds left to force a second overtime, scored 8 of the last 11 points including several free throws by Butler to seal the 91-86 upset.
Butler, who was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line in overtime, and 9 of 9 at the charity stripe from the fourth quarter on, finished with 17 points for North Brunswick. Jordan Salisbury led the way for the Raiders with a team high 20 points despite being hampered by what appeared to be leg cramps. Adryan Salazar chipped in with 18 points while Maneet Batra shook off an injury himself to come away with 12 points.
Townes led Sayreville with a game high 23 points while Ryan O’Leary, who had a dunk to open the game, and tied the game at 83-83 with a three from the right wing with two minutes to go in the second overtime, chipped in with 21 points. Henny Mautes added 14 points including two early threes for the Bombers. Sayreville was plagued with foul trouble as Jahsim Floyd, Jayson DeMild, Elijah Clark, and O’Leary all fouled out and North Brunswick was able to take advantage.
The Bombers jumped out to the early lead as O’Leary stole a pass in front of the scorer’s table, and proceeded to go in for a two handed jam, and Mautes added a three pointer for a 7-4 lead at the 5:17 mark of the first period. Sayreville then scored the next five points including another trey from Mautes at the 3:22 mark for a 12-4 Bombers lead. Sayreville managed to increase its lead to double digits by quarter’s end.
O’Leary, who scored 11 points in the opening frame, added a transition layup with a minute to go in the first while Townes scored a layup of his own in transition to put Sayreville up 24-14 after one period of play. The Bombers went up by a baker’s dozen to open the third before Salisbury connected on a three from the right corner at the 7:30 mark for a 27-17 Sayreville lead.
Salisbury’s trey sparked a 14-6 North Brunswick tear that included eight straight points over a span of 3:27 to close the gap to 33-28. Capping the rally was Salisbury, who picked up a loose ball and scored for the Raiders to close the gap to five. Sayreville got some breathing room with a key score by Townes for a 35-28 lead at the 3:10 mark. The Townes bucket sparked a 12-7 run to end the half for a 45-35 Sayreville lead at the intermission.
Sayreville opened the second half on an 11-8 run over the first 5:15 of the third including a score by Jayson DeMild at the 5:44 mark to take a 56-43 lead before Salisbury got a much needed basket for North Brunswick. However, the Raiders still trailed the Bombers by eleven at 61-50 heading into the fourth quarter. NBTHS rallied in the fourth with a 20-9 surge to tie the game and force overtime.
Jhonell Brown helped get the Raiders going with a score at the 6:15 mark of the fourth to highlight a 6-2 start to the period by the home team to close the gap to 63-56. Over the next 45 seconds, North Brunswick scored 6 of 8 points including a bucket from Batra to close the gap to 65-62 with 5:29 remaining in regulation. The Raiders then drew within one by scoring four of the next six points for a 16-6 rally, and a 67-66 Sayreville lead with 3:05 to go in the fourth.
The Bombers were unable to shake North Brunswick, which began to build more and more confidence as the game progressed. Adding to Sayreville’s troubles were some uncharacteristic struggles at the foul line. The Bombers were only 3 of 8 from the line in the fourth, and ended up going just 17 of 35 from the charity stripe for the game. Sayreville appeared to get a much needed boost when Townes scored on a layup for a 70-66 lead with 1:34 to play in regulation.
However, North Brunswick managed to score the last four points of the fourth all courtesy of Butler, who scored over Floyd on a follow to close the gap to two with about a minute to play, and then netted two free throws with 19 seconds left for a 70-70 tie. Sayreville had a chance to win the game in regulation, but wasn’t able to get a shot off as time expired. North Brunswick was able to draw first blood in the first extra session, and led by three late, but couldn’t put Sayreville away.
Led by two free throws from Batra at the 2:46 mark, and a putback by Avery Clagget at the 1:18 mark, North Brunswick led 79-76 with under a minute to play. Townes then pulled the Bombers from the fire with a drive from the left side for a layup as he was fouled with 38 seconds to go in the first overtime. Townes the managed to get back to the line and make one of two foul shots with three seconds remaining to force a second overtime with the score tied at 79-79.
Sayreville drew first blood in the second overtime as Ope Olaloko drew a foul and made one of two free throws for an 80-79 lead at the 3:30 mark. North Brunswick responded though by scoring the next four points as Butler flipped in a layup at the 2:47 mark, and followed that with an acrobatic shot for another score and an 83-80 Raiders lead with 2:10 to play. Sayreville came right back and tied the game at 83-83 on a three from deep on the right wing by O’Leary at the two minute mark.
North Brunswick managed to prevail though by scoring 8 of the last 11 points. Clagget keyed the run with two scores while Butler, Batra, Salisbury, and Demond Miller sealed the 91-86 win with free throws down the stretch. With the victory, North Brunswick opens the season at 1-0 both overall and in the GMC White while Sayreville opens at 0-1 in both. Both teams return to action over the next few days with Sayreville facing 7th ranked Bishop Ahr on Saturday night in the Friends of South Amboy Benefit at 6:00 PM.
Then, the Bombers host J.F. Kennedy in its home opener on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM while North Brunswick travels to Woodbridge for a clash with the Barrons on Tuesday at 7:00 PM as well.