Falcons Withstand Frantic Rally By Tigers To Advance To 2nd Straight T of C Final
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ–You will often hear the phrase, “Survive and Advance,” that embodies this time of year. Â In the second semifinal of the 2014 Tournament of Champions, top seeded St. Joseph’s did just that in its victory over Linden to secure its second straight T of C final on Monday night against Newark East Side in Trenton. Â It wasn’t easy though as Linden showed why it was perhaps the toughest New Jersey opponent this season to date for the Falcons. Â St. Joe’s led 48-28 with 2:48 remaining in the third period after an alleyoop dunk by Kentucky bound center, Karl Towns. Â Over the final 10:48 of the contest, the game would dramatically change.
The first 5:28 of that final span, Karl Towns, who was saddled with two fouls in the first half, picked up three fouls to foul out of the game. Â The last 5:20 seemed to be an eternity as the 52-39 lead that St. Joe’s had as Towns went to the bench, and Linden continued to embark on its frantic rally. Â Juwan Dolbrice, Josh Carter, and Otis Livingston hit threes to close the gap to 58-57 with 48.6 seconds left. Â In just over 10 minutes, Linden had outscored Joes by a margin of 29-10. Â This had followed another dominant performance in the third by the Falcons as they turned a 24-20 lead at the half into a 20 point advantage with under three minutes to go in the third with a 24-8 start to the second half. Â St. Joseph’s had Linden on the ropes early in the game as well with a 9-2 start, but the Tigers were able to get back into the contest with a 16-8 tear to take an 18-17 lead late in the second quarter.
Both teams just had five players get into the scoring column with each having four of those players score in double figures. Â Linden had a 21-9 advantage in points scored from beyond the arc, but Joes had a 20-13 advantage in two point field goals, and a 14-12 edge from the foul line. Â However, the Falcons had quite an adventure at the charity stripe down the stretch. Â Joes went 6 of 12 from the line over the last several minutes of the game. Â In addition, St. Joseph’s had trouble against Linden’s full court pressure, which was instituted right about at the time that Towns left the game. Â Although the Falcons had been in a situation before where their big man had fouled out of a big game (last year’s GMCT final against East Brunswick), they played as if they had never been in that position before. Â St. Joseph’s managed to survive the storm though thanks to a key late basket by Marques Townes (15 points) and two free throws by Raven Owen (7 points) with 34 seconds left.
In addition to Townes scoring 15 points, Vanderbilt bound Wade Baldwin and Towns also had 15 while Breein Tyree chipped in with 11. Â Linden was led by their Cincinnati bound big man, Quadri Moore, who had a game high 19 points while Livingston, a transfer from the Patrick School, chipped in with 16 points. Â Juwan Dolbrice, who nailed two big threes during Linden’s rally, ended up with 11 as well as Josh Carter. Â Former McCarrick standout, Alonzo Hamilton, who often guarded his former teammate, Townes in the contest, rounded out the Tigers scoring with two points. Â The game started out with St. Joseph’s getting off to a superb start. Â Over the first 3:56 of the game, the Falcons scored 9 of the first 11 points as Towns scored five and Townes added four. Â However, Linden was able to creep back into the game as the Falcons stopped getting the ball to Towns, who only managed to get two points over the last 12:04 of the first half, and had four shots total in the first 16 minutes of the game. Â Dolbrice helped sparked the first Tiger comeback with a layup at the 2:48 mark of the first, and then a three from the right wing at the buzzer to close the gap to 13-8 heading into the second.
Linden continued to rally in throughout much of the second with a 10-4 spurt to take an 18-17 lead late in the period. Â However, Joes finished the half on a 7-2 run including a three by Owen for a 24-20 edge at the intermission. Â Towns led Joes with 7 points while Townes chipped in with 6. Â Moore led Linden with 7 as well while Livingston chipped in with 6. Â The second half started out with a typical burst by Joes in the third. Â Leading 26-23 early in the third, the Falcons embarked on an 8-0 run that included conventional three point plays by Baldwin and Townes, and a breakaway dunk by Townes before Linden called for time trailing, 34-23. Â The Tigers timeout wasn’t the tonic though as St. Joe’s picked up right where it left off before the stoppage by scoring 8 of the next 9 points in a 2:16 span including a three by Baldwin for a 42-24 lead with 3:27 remaining in the period. Â After another Linden timeout, Joes scoring 6 of the next 10 points including the alleyoop dunk by Towns with under three minutes to go for a 48-28 lead. Â Linden then began to turn the tables by ending the third with the final four points to close the gap to 48-32 heading into the fourth as Towns picked up his third foul in the waning seconds.
Quietly the storm began to grow as Linden opened the final frame with 5 of the first 7 points before Towns scored on a layup for a 52-37 lead with 6:19 left. Â Linden continued to battle back though as the Tigers got another score to pull within a baker’s dozen while Towns picked up his fourth and fifth fouls to leave the game with 5:20 remaining. Â Linden then scored 8 of the next 10 points including two threes by Dolbrice to close the gap to 54-47 with 3:24 left. Â The Tigers then got two more scores off its pressure defense to pull within a possession as Tyree went to the line with 2:30 left. Â The sophomore transfer from Rutgers Prep, then made two free throws to make it a 56-51 lead, but Linden came back with a score to pull within three again before Joes called a 30 second timeout with 1:52 remaining. Â Despite Townes key basket, LHS continued to feed of the energy of their fans, and climb back into the contest with six points including Livingston’s three with 48.6 remaining to pull within one at 58-57. Â Owen then made his two clutch free throws, and Baldwin helped wrap up the 63-59 win with one of two from the free throw line in the final seconds.
With the victory, St. Joseph’s improves to 29-2 overall on the second with both losses coming to teams outside of New Jersey with a defeat to national powers DeMatha of Maryland (at the Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts) back in January and Montverde Academy of Florida at the Metro Classic in February. Â The Falcons advance to play Newark East Side in the T of C Championship with the chance to become the first GMC team to ever win the T of C since its inception in 1989. Â Linden, which has made four appearances in the T of C, and reached the final in 2006, finished its season at 27-5.