Eagles Hold Off Bears to Earn 3rd GMCT Elite Eight Berth in Last 5 Years
EDISON, NJ—Edison Boys Basketball has been making a lot of history in recent years. Four years ago, the Eagles reached their first GMCT Quarterfinals since 1996. Two seasons ago, Edison won its first ever division title in school history and reached the GMCT Semis for the first time since 1966. On Thursday, some more history was made when the 6th seeded Eagles hosted 11th seeded East Brunswick in the 2022 GMCT First Round.
Led by the play of Niko Barnes, Elisha White, and Joe Greer, Edison jumped out to a 20-10 first quarter lead, and then scored the first four points of the second for a 24-10 advantage. East Brunswick would respond though as Justin Black, Mike Mikulka, Alani Ajigbotosho, and Brett Motusesky contributed to a 17-4 rally that closed the gap to 28-27 at the intermission.
The Bears then got a three from the right wing by Motusesky to tie the game at 30-30 early in the 3rd before the Eagles retook control with a 9-2 spurt consisting of two threes from reserve Jonathan Baio, a free throw from Barnes, and a White layup for a 39-32 lead. East Brunswick would eventually get within three on a couple of occasions late, but White slammed home a one handed jam for a 55-49 lead late in the fourth, and Barnes made two from the foul line to wrap up a 57-52 win that gave Edison its third GMCT Elite Eight berth in the past five years.
Edison, which won its fourth straight, and 8th out of its last 10, was led by Barnes, who poured in a game high 23 points including 11 from the foul line while also collecting 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. White chipped in with 18 points including two threes, and also picked up 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal.
Baio teamed up with senior guard Brian Hobson to account for the other four threes for the Eagles. Both ended up scoring 6 points on two threes while Hobson, who was also a spark plug on defense, collected 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Baio added a rebound and a steal off the bench. Greer rounded out the Eagles scoring with 4 points along with 6 rebounds and an assist.
Justyn Britton and Selbin Sabio also played for Edison and each picked up two rebounds and a steal. Mikulka led three EB players in double figures with a team high 14 points while Ajigbotosho chipped in with 13 and Black added 12. Motusesky contributed with two threes for 6 points while forward Zack McCue scored 5 points, and Andrew Diaz rounded out the Bears scoring with two.
Six different players scored for East Brunswick while five scored for Edison. The Eagles outscored EB by a margin of 28-24 in points scored from within the arc, and by an 11-1 margin from the foul line. Both teams combined for 15 three pointers with East Brunswick outscoring Edison by a margin of 27-18 from long distance. As a team, the Eagles compiled 29 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 steals, and 2 blocks.
Edison outscored East Brunswick in the first and fourth quarters while East Brunswick held the edge in the second, and the third ended in a 13-13 tie. After the Eagles opened up the game with a 20-10 first quarter showing, and then scored the first four of the second as White first took the ball at the top of the key before dribbling down the left lane for a score, and then Greer scored after Hobson made a great save from the end line to him for a bucket in the paint for a 24-10 lead with 6:30 to go in the first half.
Following an EB timeout, the Bears regrouped, and scored 17 of the next 21 points as Ajigbotosho opened the rally with a tip-in. Mikulka followed with a three from the right wing, and then Black capped the run with a three from the right side, and then a pull-up jumper with time running out in the half to pull East Brunswick within one at 28-27 going into the intermission. Barnes accounted for the lone Edison points with two scores.
After Edison opened the second half with a score for a three point lead, Motusesky connected on a three from in front of the Bears bench to tie the score at 30-30 a little over a minute into the third. Then, the Eagles replied with 9 of the next 11 points including a three by Baio from the left corner that got a fortuitous bounce for a 33-30 lead, and then another trifecta from Baio off a kickout by Hobson for a six point lead.
Barnes then added a free throw and White added another score for a 39-32 lead before East Brunswick rallied with five straight points including a score from Diaz off an assist from Black to pull the Bears within two again at 39-37 with 41 seconds left in the third. Edison got a score to close out the third for a 41-37 lead. East Brunswick tried to chip away at the deficit with an 8-7 run over the first 3:16 of the final period.
Edison still managed to maintain a 48-45 lead thanks to Hobson, who sank a huge three from the right corner at one end, and blocked a shot attempt at the other end. The Eagles and Bears would trade scores as the home team would go up by five or seven only to have the visitors answer to trim the deficit back down to three.
East Brunswick managed to claw back to within 53-49 with 50.9 seconds left on scores from Mikulka and Black. Edison then called timeout, and set up a play for White off an inbounds near the Edison basket. White took a pass on the left baseline, and swooped in for a high flying, one handed jam that had not been seen by some of the locals since Perth Amboy’s William Pennyfeather threw such a dunk down against the Eagles in the 1980s.
The Bears narrowed the deficit back down to three at 55-52 with 34.7 seconds left, but were unable to get any closer as Barnes drew a foul and made both ends of the bonus to wrap up the 57-52 victory. With the win, Edison improves to 16-6 overall including a 13-4 mark in conference play, and move on to the 2022 GMCT Quarterfinals against 3rd seeded Colonia at 11:00 AM on Sunday morning.
With the loss, East Brunswick drops back down to .500 overall and in conference at 10-10. The Bears are scheduled to play in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 state playoffs with an opening round game against 6th seeded Northern Burlington in Columbus on February 28th. Edison is also playing in the state playoffs in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 state playoffs against Scotch Plains-Fanwood.