Bears Guard Duo Combine for 34 Points and 6 Threes in Win
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| The East Brunswick Bears go through their pre-game ritual prior to the start of their GMC Red clash against Perth Amboy. EB made 9 threes and went 13 of 16 from the foul line for a 58-50 win over the Panthers. |
PERTH AMBOY, NJ–In the GMC Hoops Red Division Preview it was mentioned that if East Brunswick can hits its threes, it can play with anyone in the Greater Middlesex Conference.
So far this season, the Bears have struggled somewhat. Losing 8 of their first 13 games with six of those losses coming by a total of 27 points. The latest loss came at the hands of Bridgewater-Raritan (53-46) at the Bear’s Den on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Perth Amboy entered the contest with three straight losses including a one point defeat on the road at Union City in Hudson County on Saturday. East Brunswick came to town looking to avenge a 54-51 loss to the Panthers on December 22nd.
East Brunswick’s perimeter game was firing on all pistons this time around. Led by junior guard Joe Sampson and senior guard, Ezra Levitt, the Bears knocked down 9 three pointers, and outscored Amboy by a margin of 27-21 from the perimeter to maintain the lead throughout.
However, after the Panthers drew within two at 48-46 following a 5-0 run that included a Joe Malave (8 points) three at the 4:22 mark, the Bears needed a 10-4 run down the stretch to put the Panthers away in a 58-50 victory. Sampson finished with a game high 21 points on four field goals, three treys, and 4 of 6 from the line.
Meanwhile, Levitt chipped in with 13 points on three treys and 4 of 6 from the line. East Brunswick also got two second quarter threes from steady senior wing man, Gil Wyman (8 points) and a trey from Eric Schneider (3 points) to end the first quarter with a 13-8 lead. Dante Ralph provided some inside scoring with 9 points including 5 of 6 from the foul line.
Perth Amboy, which combined with EB to net 16 threes in the contest, was led by senior, Fres Cabrera, who scored 11 points including a steal for a one handed slam from the right side to close the gap to 44-41 with 1:05 remaining in the third. Joshua Cabezudo chipped in with 9 points all coming in the first half.
The Panthers were able to bridge the gap somewhat with a 24-18 edge in points scored from within the arc, but were only 5 of 11 from the charity stripe while the Bears were 13 of 16. Both teams had 14 team fouls. East Brunswick outscored Amboy in the first and fourth quarters while the third was even (14-14).
EB got off to a fast start by scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the game all courtesy of Sampson, who scored all 10 points for the Bears with two threes, a layup, and another field goal. Perth Amboy was able to respond with a 6-3 run to end the first including a drive into the paint by Cabrera for a short hook at the 3:10 mark.
The second period saw both teams combine for the most points in a quarter during the entire game. Perth Amboy earned the 18-16 edge thanks to the efforts of Cabezudo. Things didn’t start out so well for the Panthers though as EB broke away from a tenuous 13-12 lead with an 11-5 spurt.
Keying the spurt were two threes from Wyman including one from the left wing at the 3:30 mark, and a trey by Levitt to make the score 24-17. The Panthers responded by scoring 9 of the last 14 points of the half including a three by Cabezudo from the right corner with time running out in the second to close the gap to 29-26 at the intermission.
East Brunswick re-established control at the onset of the third by scoring the first five points including a three from the right wing by Sampson at the 6:27 mark for a 34-26 lead. Perth Amboy then scored 15 of the next 25 points including a putback at the 4:11 mark and then Cabrera’s steal for a dunk with a little over a minute to play in the third for a 44-41 EB lead.
The Bears, which got 7 points in the third frame from Sampson, opened the fourth with the first four points including a jumper from inside the foul line by Jesse Perel at the 6:37 mark for a 48-41 lead. Amboy would respond though with the next five points including Malave’s three from the left wing off an inbounds pass by Josh Nazario at the 4:22 mark to help narrow the deficit to two at 48-46.
Perth Amboy wouldn’t get any closer though. Instead the Bears pulled away by scoring the next six points capped by a Sampson drive to his right past Joe Malave on the right wing, down to the baseline, where he went in for a reverse layin that made it a 54-46 EB lead with 2:21 remaining.
The Panthers trimmed the deficit down to six at 56-50 by scoring 4 of the next 6 points including a stutter step move by Chris Carrera that gave him some space to weave through traffic, and pull-up for a short jumper from the left side with 1:50 to play. Sampson would ice the game though with two free throws with about 1:15 to play for the 58-50 final score.
With the victory, East Brunswick improved to 6-8 overall on the season and moved up to .500 in divisional play at 5-5. Meanwhile, Perth Amboy lost its fourth in a row, and fell to 5-10 overall on the season including a 3-7 mark in the GMC Red. Both teams will be back in action on Thursday.
East Brunswick will travel over to neighborhood rival Old Bridge for a Thursday evening game at 5:15 PM while Perth Amboy travels to Monroe for a 7:00 PM contest. The Bears also have another game on Saturday against Hillsborough in the Hoops for Troops Showcase at Franklin High School at 1:30 PM.