14th Seeded Bears Upset GMC Red Rival Vikings in CJ Group 4 Playoffs
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ–On Monday, the opening round of the 2017 Central Jersey Group 4 State Playoffs began with a match-up between familiar foes as third seeded South Brunswick hosted 14th seeded East Brunswick.
The Vikings, which finished second in the GMC Red, and reached the 2017 GMCT Semifinals for the second straight year, entered the contest with 7 wins in the last 8 meetings between the two schools including a dramatic last second victory over the Bears in the 2016 Central Jersey Group 4 Quarterfinals (63-61).
On this night though, the East Brunswick Bears, which entered the contest with 10 wins in their last 16 games, would come away with the surprise win to advance to the CJ Group 4 Quarterfinals for the second straight year. EB jumped out to a 11-6 first quarter lead, and then turned in a 16-9 second quarter effort for a 27-15 halftime lead.
East Brunswick then held on for a 53-42 victory. Junior guard, Mitchell PIngoy led the way with a game high 18 points including four threes. Senior guard, Ezra Levitt chipped in with 11 points including six from the foul line. Dante Ralph added 9 points including a three pointer. All seven players that got into the game for East Brunswick scored.
Senior guards, Mike Ugarte and Ryan Moran led South Brunswick in a losing cause with 10 points each while fellow classmate, Tavian Alford chipped in with 8 points and Greg Lee added 6. Twelve players entered the game for the Vikings with 7 of them scoring.
One key to the EB victory was three point shooting. The Bears outscored South Brunswick by a margin of 24-9 from long distance. The Vikings had a 20-14 edge in points scored within the arc, but EB also enjoyed a 15-13 edge in points scored from the charity stripe.
With the victory, East Brunswick improved to 14-12 overall on the season and advanced to the 2017 Central Jersey Group 4 Quarterfinals against another GMC Red rival, sixth seeded Old Bridge on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. South Brunswick finished its season at 21-5.