East Brunswick Hangs On To Win Championship Despite Last Minute Rally By Zebras
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Wednesday evening, GMC Hoops headed over to East Brunswick High School to catch the remainder of the Championship Game of the Brunswick Classic between New Brunswick and the hometown Bears. The site was able to capture the last 8:32 of the game including the entire fourth quarter, which had quite a finish. Mauro Tucci, who collected 10 points on a three pointer and seven free throws, made two charity shots with 19 seconds left to seal a 68-62 victory over the Zebras.
Junior Carl Thomore collected his second straight double-double for EB with 10 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Anthony Guisti added three treys and a field goal for 11 points. Guisti netted seven three pointers over the two days of the tournament. New Brunswick’s Jaquan Cook had game high for the second straight game with 16 points on seven field goals and two foul shots while senior Nigel Scott added 14 points on two field goals, a three pointer and seven foul shots. For the game, East Brunswick made 18 field goals, 6 threes, and 14 foul shots while New Brunswick connected on 22 field goals, 3 treys, and 16 free throws.
GMC Hoops joined the action with 32 seconds to go in the third with East Brunswick leading 56-49. The Bears quickly had a chance to score moments later when Miles Colmon swiped a steal that led to a missed shot attempt by Mike Weber (6 points). Tucci grabbed the offensive rebound, but missed the jumper. Anthony Gudzak (3 points) got another offensive and set up for a final shot of the period. With seconds remaining, Tucci went in for a layin, but the shot didn’t fall as time expired in the third with EB still leading by seven. In the fourth, NBHS outscored EB by a margin of 13-12, but it wasn’t enough as the Bears led at one point by nine before the Zebras rallied two trail by two.
Scott opened the fourth period scoring with a layup at the 7:46 mark for a 56-51 EB lead. The Bears answered almost a minute later as Weber fed sophomore Mike Summerer (6 points) for a layup that made the score 58-51 with 6:54 remaining. The Zebras responded quickly as Milton Pittman (12 points) netted his only two free throws of the game for a 58-53 score with 6:44 left. Following an East Brunswick timeout at the 5:39 mark. Joe Ross, the hero of the opening round victory over North Brunswick on Monday, swiped a steal that eventually was converted into a layup by Thomore at the 4:55 mark for a 60-53 lead. New Brunswick tried to climb back within five, but Fuquan Rogers (12 points) penetrated too far, got trapped, and ended up traveling at the 4:19 mark.
However, Zebra teammate, Simuel Williams (13 points) picked up his teammate by getting one of his six field goals when he swiped a steal and went in for a layup at the 4:13 mark. After a 30 second timeout by the Zebras, Guisti drove and dished to Colmon for a layup and a 62-55 lead at the 4:07 mark. Following a timeout by EB at the 3:32 mark, and a traveling violation by Colmon at the 3:22 mark, the senior forward redeemed himself by driving in from the left wing for a layup in the right low block for what seemed to be a commanding 64-55 lead with 2:30 left. New Brunswick didn’t give up though. Despite a Rogers pass that went off the hands of Scott out of bounds at the 2:18 mark, the Zebras rallied with a frantic 7-0 flurry over the next 1:02 to make things interesting again.
Pittman sparked the rally when he took in a Williams pass, and scored a layup as he was fouled (missed the bonus free throw) at the 1:34 mark. New Brunswick then forced a turnover that was converted by Scott in the form of a three pointer that was banked off the glass and in with 1:24 remaining. Pittman then swiped another steal off a trap in the right corner, and passed to Williams for a layup that suddenly made the score, 64-62 with 1:16 to play. However, NBHS was unable to get any closer. Following an East Brunswick timeout with 1:15 left, the Bears scored the final four points as Mike Weber drove in from the right wing for a layup as he was fouled (missed the bonus free throw) to make the score, 66-62 at the 46 second mark. Tucci then sealed the championship with his two foul shots for the 68-62 final.
With the victory, EB improves to 4-0 overall and in conference play while New Brunswick falls to 1-4 overall and in the GMC. Earlier, in the consolation, North Brunswick junior, Tait Pirkle, scored 30 points including 12 in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders to a 63-57 victory over South Brunswick. NBTHS is now 4-1 on the season while SBHS slips to 1-3.