Vikings Overcame Fast Start by Bears For Important Road Win
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–Forty-eight hours after falling from the ranks of the unbeaten by virtue of an upset win by Piscataway, South Brunswick looked to rebound on the road against an East Brunswick team that was full of confidence after its big win at home over Old Bridge on Tuesday night.
At the start, it appeared that the momentum created by its win two nights ago would buoy East Brunswick to another important victory. Over the first four minutes of the opening period, EB jumped out to a 9-1 lead. However, with its bench providing great team spirit and brotherhood, South Brunswick battled back.
The Vikings scored 10 of the last 12 points of the first quarter to tie the game at 11-11, and then after the Bears big man, Dante Ralph, went to the bench in foul trouble, they outscored EB by a 17-7 margin in the second period for a 28-18 lead at the half. East Brunswick did manage to get within single digits in the second half, but couldn’t overcome South Brunswick as it won, 59-46 in a GMC Red Division clash.
Senior guard, Mike Ugarte led the way for the Vikes with a game high 25 points including a layin in the lane with less than a second left in the first half for the ten point lead at the intermission. Teammate Tavian Alford chipped in with 10 points including a traditional three point play for a 40-29 lead with 1:29 remaining in the third period.
Greg Lee added 8 points for South Brunswick, which had seven different players score in the game. Despite picking up his fourth foul of the game with 4:19 to go in the third period, Ralph finished with a team high 16 points in a losing cause for East Brunswick. Gil Wyman chipped in with 12 points on four three pointers while Joe Sampson and Jesse Perel added 6.
EB had six different players score in the contest. The Bears had 7 of the 9 three pointers in the game, and outscored South Brunswick by a 21-6 margin from beyond the arc. However, the Vikings held a 26-18 advantage in points scored within the arc while also enjoying a 21-7 edge in points collected from the charity stripe. South Brunswick outscored East Brunswick in each of the last three periods.
With the victory, South Brunswick, which has won 6 of its last 7 against EB since the 2014-15 season, improved to 6-1 overall including a 4-1 mark in Red Division play. The Vikings are also 6-1 in conference. Meanwhile, EB drops to 3-4 overall on the season and in conference including a 2-3 mark in divisional play. The Bears return to action on Saturday with another home game against J.F. Kennedy in a GMC Red-White crossover at 1:00 PM. South Brunswick’s next game is at home on Monday afternoon, January 9th at 4:00 PM against the Pennington School.