Newark Tech Rallies In 2nd Half To Defeat In-City Rival, 42-39
TOMS RIVER, NJ–Over the last five years, the Tournament of Champions Quarterfinal matchup between the four and five seeds have probably been the most contentious of any of the 25 T of C games played in that span.
Since 2009, the games between the four and five seeds in the T of C have all been decided by six points or less with the last two years being determined in overtime. Â This year’s matchup, one for city wide bragging rights in the largest city in the Garden State, was no different. Â
The third battle and rubber match between fifth seeded and Group II State Champion, Newark Tech and fourth seeded Newark Eastside, the Group III State Champion, was no different in terms of the final score. Â However, the way the two teams got to that result was not typical. Â The contest was a tale of two halves. Â The first half dominated by Newark Eastside and the second dominated by Newark Tech.
In the end though, the Terriers, which had lost to the Red Raiders, 50-47 in the semifinals of the Essex County Tournament a few weeks ago, came out on top with a slightly better half. Â Trailing 28-12 late in the first half, Newark Tech got a three pointer from Mustafa Lawrence to pull within a baker’s dozen going into the intermission, and then opened the second half with a 9-2 run to pull within six before limiting Eastside to no field goals for 13 minutes.
The result was a 30-11 surge over the last 16 plus minutes of play. Â The Terriers led 41-35 with 1:35 left, and withstood two late scores by Abdul Lewis and Akbar Hoffman and several scoring chances in the final seconds for the Red Raiders to emerge victorious not only to advance and play in the semifinals against top seeded Roselle Catholic, but also bragging rights across the Brick City.
Both teams dominated play in their better halves through defense. Â Newark Eastside limited Newark Tech to only two field goals in the first period, and scored 13 of the last 15 points of the frame after Lawrence made his first three to open the game for the Terriers. Â In the second, Newark Tech got scores from Kekomo Turay and Rakwan Kelly to pull with 17-9 before the Red Raiders scored 11 of the next 14 points to take a 28-12 lead late in the second.
Hoffman led Eastside with 10 first half points, but only scored two in the second half as the Terriers clamped down on him.  Meanwhile, Newark Tech, which has been known for its slow stats, became inspired by the words and play of Kelly, who highlighted the 9-2 start in the third with a three point play, and ended up scoring 11 of his game high 14 points in the final two periods of action.  Newark Tech, which had given up five more points per game than Eastside on defense during its post-season run, showed that it could  lock up on the defensive end as well.
During Eastside’s offensive drought from the beginning of the third to late in the fourth, the Raiders missed 14 consecutive shots, and committed 10 turnovers according to the Star-Ledger. Â Both teams had one player score in double figures, and Eastside had eight of its nine players score while only six players got into the scoring column for Newark Tech. Â However, five of those players scored at least five points for the Terriers while six players scored four points or less for the Raiders.
Most notably, two key supporting cast players in the state finals were shut down in this contest.  Dwayne Murrill scored 16 points in the second half for Newark Tech in the Group II state final against Medford Tech, but on Wednesday night, he went scoreless.  Ahmad Harrison scored 10 points in the Group III championship against Camden, but only had two against Newark Tech, and was  held scoreless over the last 30 minutes of the game. Â
The Terriers outscored the Red Raiders by a 6-3 margin from beyond the arc while also having a  14-12 edge in field goals.  Eastside had more points from the foul line (12-8).  Newark Tech scored in double figures in each of the last three periods while Newark Eastside only had two double digit quarters, which both came in the first half.  Newark Tech improved to 23-8 on the season with its 11th win in its last 12 games while Newark Eastside ended the season at 25-7.