EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–After being over at the Gene Haley Memorial Tournament in Iselin, the site took a trip over to East Brunswick High School for the two games in the opening round of the 2009 Brunswick Classic. Both games were very competitive especially the nightcap between North Brunswick and East Brunswick, which went down to the wire. The South Brunswick Vikings took on New Brunswick in the opener, and pulled within two in the third quarter, but the Zebras, led by Jaquan Cook and Milton Pittman put the game out of reach with a 30-21 showing the rest of the way for a 64-53 win.
Cook And Pittman Lift Zebras Past Vikings, 64-53
In the first game of the tournament’s opening round doubleheader, the Zebras got a superb performance from junior forward, Jaquan Cook, who connected on 12 of 13 shots from the floor for 24 points along with 13 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Sophomore forward, Milton Pittman chipped in with 7 of 12 shooting from the floor along with one of two from the line for 15 points while collecting 10 boards. Simuel Williams did a great job of playmaking and running the Zebra offense as he handed out eight assists.
Leading the way in a losing effort for the Vikings was sophomore forward, Danny Strickland who scored 13 points while grabbing 8 rebounds. He also collected 2 assists and a steal. Fellow sophomore, Nick Muha added 12 points and 4 rebounds. The Zebras outscored the Vikings in every quarter with their biggest margin coming in the third on a 20-15 showing. A couple keys in the victory for New Brunswick was the way they guarded the perimeter shot, and how they prevented South Brunswick’s Kory Sanders from having a big game. The Vikes were limited to just 1 of 11 from long distance while Sanders was contained, and ended up only scoring 7 points.
Things didn’t start off all that well for New Brunswick as SBHS opened the game with a 10-6 lead. However, the Zebras closed out the first with a 9-3 run for a 15-13 lead as Cook came up with eight points in the period. Both teams shot well from the field as the Vikings started the game going 5 of 10 from the floor while New Brunswick was 7 of 13. In the second period, junior guard, Nyeem Coleman sank a three pointer from the left wing off a pass by Williams to open up the scoring for an 18-13 lead. The Zebras then went on to lead by as many as eight points on a couple of occasions until Sanders came up with a three point play for the Vikes to close out the first half scoring with New Brunswick leading 30-25.
In the third, NBHS took a nine point lead early on with a 4-0 run before Strickland grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the follow while being fouled for a traditional three point play, and a 34-28 Zebra lead at the 5:33 mark. Strickland then got a steal near midcourt, and drove in for a layup from the left side, and followed that up with an assist on a Muha layup to pull the Vikings within two at 34-32 with five minutes left in the third. New Brunswick responded though with an 8-4 run over the next 2:06 before sophomore guard, Mike Green netted two free throws after being fouled on a layup attempt to make the score, 42-38 at the 2:54 mark.
The Zebras then finished off the third by scoring 8 of the next 10 points including a Pittman layup, an offensive rebound and follow by Cook, and a layup by Williams for a 50-40 lead heading into the fourth. South Brunswick got to within five at 52-45 after a three pointer by Green off an assist by Jevon Tyree, but couldn’t get any closer as New Brunswick led at one point by a dozen in the 64-53 win. The Zebras, which won its first game of the season, is now 1-3 overall, and advanced to face fourth ranked East Brunswick in the Championship, which will be played on Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 PM. South Brunswick, which fell to 1-2 faces North Brunswick in the consolation at 3:00 PM.
East Brunswick Downs North Brunswick On Ross Three Pointer, 63-61
Of all the holiday tournament matchups on Monday, this was one of the more compelling ones as third ranked East Brunswick hosted top ten contender North Brunswick in a battle of unbeatens. This was a game that lived up to its hype. There were seven lead changes and one tie in the contest while neither team had a lead that was bigger than seven points. East Brunswick’s depth proved to be a key factor in the win as it used 12 different players in the game. North Brunswick hung tough though with a 17-8 third quarter showing that gave it a 52-45 lead on a three pointer by sophomore guard, Dion Rogers as time expired.
However, East Brunswick, which outrebounded the Raiders by a margin of 35-23, overcame 16 turnovers to win the game. Joe Ross capped an 18-9 showing in the final period with a three pointer with 12 seconds to play after bobbling the pass. Ross, a sophomore guard, shot 5 of 7 from the floor overall including 2 of 4 from three for his 12 points while teammate Anthony Guisti made 4 of 7 shots including 4 of 6 from three to get all his 12 points in the victory. Junior Carl Thomore led the Bears with a double-double effort of 14 points and 10 rebounds as he shot 7 of 13 from the field. Senior guard, Mark Gibson led NBTHS with a game high 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor including a one of three showing from three while making 5 of 7 from the line. Rogers chipped in with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor and 3 of 6 from the line.
The Raiders got off to a fast start with a 5-2 lead on a three pointer by Gibson. Thomore then scored on a layup to make it 5-4 before North Brunswick got one of two from the line by Gibson for a 6-4 lead. NBTHS lead by three again at one point at 10-7 before EB went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-10 lead. The Bears expanded on that with threes by Dan Sclafani and Anthony Guisti for an 18-13 lead before Rogers made two of three from the line after being fouled on a three point shot to make the score 18-15. Guisti, who had three treys in the first half, sank another one from the right wing off an assist by Gudzak to increased the lead to 21-15, but Gibson replied with a conventional three point play at the 44 second mark to make it a three point game again, and North Brunswick then finished the busy first period scoring with an offensive rebound and follow by Chance Gadsden for a 21-20 EB lead.
The second saw the Bears increase their lead to four on a 5-2 run that included an offensive rebound and follow by sophomore Mike Summerer, and a three pointer from the top of the key by Guisti for a 26-22 lead with 6:20 remaining in the half. Thomore then added a basket while being fouled (missed bonus free throw) to make the score 28-22 with 6:01 to go in the half. North Brunswick then answered with a 6-2 run that closed the gap to 30-28 before a layin by Ross at the 4:03 mark sparked a 7-2 spurt that was capped by a Ross three pointer from the right side off a kickout by Thomore for a 37-30 lead. Rogers closed out the first half scoring with a three point play at the 2:25 mark, and a bucket off an assist by Pirkle to pull the Raiders within two at 37-35 going into the intermission.
Defenses took over in the second half as North Brunswick outscored East Brunswick 17-8 in the third to take control of the game. The Raiders started things off with a 4-0 run that included a bucket by Gibson at the 7:27 mark for a 39-37 lead. Mike Curran then followed that up with an offensive rebound and follow off a Troy Brown miss for a 41-37 lead at the 6:59 mark. Thomore finally got EB on the board with a layup off a pass from freshman Rob Ukawuba, but Tait Pirkle gave the Raiders a four point lead again at 43-39 with 6:33 to go in the third. NBTHS then went up by six as Gibson made two from the line at the 5:28 mark for a 45-39 lead, but the Bears fought back with a 6-2 run that included Guisti’s final three of the game to close the gap to 47-45 with 1:51 left in the frame. Rogers helped North Brunswick respond by scoring all five points to end the period again including his three pointer from the left wing as time expired for the 52-45 lead.
In the final period, East Brunswick answered the gut check with an 18-9 finish to win the game. It wasn’t easy though. North Brunswick had a 54-47 lead with just under seven minutes to play before Mauro Tucci sparked a 7-2 run with a three pointer from the right wing off a pass from Ross to make the score 54-50 with 6:40 left. Kevin Lantz then capped the run with an offensive rebound and follow at the 4:51 mark that closed the gap to two at 56-54 with 4:51 remaining. The Raiders then got one of two showings from the line by Jarrett Phelps at the 4:37 mark, and another one of two from Pirkle following another Lantz score for a 58-56 lead with 3:57 left.
The Bears then had a couple chances to tie, but Sclafani missed the front end of a one and one, and Thomore missed on the follow with 3:09 to play. East Brunswick would eventually tie the game at 58-58 a short time later on a Sclafani layup that followed a missed layup attempt at the other end by Rogers. After calling a timeout with 1:36 to play, East Brunswick lost the ball out of bounds at the 1:24 mark. Then, head coach, Bo Henning sent in senior Mike Weber for the first time in the contest, and the football standout rose to the occasion by stealing an inbounds pass, and handing out an assist on a Tucci layup as he was knocked to the floor. Tucci, who was knocked to the floor earlier, missed the bonus free throw, and EB led 60-58 with 1:19 left.
The Bears then had a chance to put the game away after North Brunswick lost the ball out of bounds. However, Tucci led Lantz too far on a pass, and it went out of bounds with 37 seconds left, which set the stage for Gibson. The North Brunswick senior, who defeated New Brunswick on a last second shot last week, drove in for a layup, and drew the foul as well for a conventional three point play, and a 61-60 lead with 27 seconds left. Ross then came up with his big three, but North Brunswick still had a chance to tie or win as Pirkle forced a turnover with four seconds left. However, the Raider junior guard’s last second shot only grazed the rim as time expired with EB winning 63-61.
With the victory, East Brunswick remained undefeated at 3-0 overall and in conference play while North Brunswick dropped to 3-1. The Bears will take on New Brunswick in the championship at 4:30 PM while North Brunswick plays South Brunswick in the consolation at 3:00 PM.