Explosive 2nd Qtr Lifts Aquinas Past Colonia, 69-46

St. Thomas Aquinas junior guard, Jaden Kelly shown here in action last season, helped give the Trojans a 16-14 first quarter lead versus Colonia. Temmates Samir Thomas and Michael Jones helped Aquinas erase a 25-20 second quarter deficit with a decisive 15-3 tear to defeat the Patriots 69-46 in North Edison on Thursday night.

Thomas and Jones Spark Decisive Trojans Run

NORTH EDISON, NJ — It wasn’t quite as dominant a second quarter run as the one turned in by Adam Silas and company nearly 11 months ago for the 2022 GMCT Championship, but it was still quite explosive and dramatic.  Most importantly, it led to the same outcome.  Trailing 25-20 4:24 left in the second, after 2nd ranked Colonia scored 9 unanswered points, top ranked St. Thomas Aquinas responded with 10 straight points of its own, and 15 of the last 18 points of the first half to take a 35-30 lead.   The Trojans never trailed again in a 69-46 victory.

Samir Thomas, a transfer from Gill St. Bernard’s and Michael Jones, a transfer from Trenton Catholic, played key roles in the decisive spurt.  Thomas connected on four treys and Jones added a basket as well en route to a triple double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.  Football standout, Sherief Guinyard also contributed to the surge with a one handed dunk.

Aquinas didn’t stop there either.  Instead, the Trojans began the second half with 6 of the first 8 points including a jumper from Kamal Lee, and a layup from East Stroudsburg commit, Terrell Pitts for a 41-32 lead with 5:28 to go in the third.  Jaden Kelly then knocked down a three and Guinyard added a layin for a 46-32 Aquinas advantage at the 3:57 mark of thee third.

Jones then added a three from the left corner to cap the decisive 29-7 outburst for a 17 point edge before Anthony Gooden knocked down a triple from the top of the key to put Colonia back within 14 at 49-35 with 2:03 to go in the third.  Gooden’s trey sparked a bit of a rally by the Patriots as Gooden added another score in transition and freshman Aiden Derkack netted a pair of free throws to cap a 7-2 spurt for a 51-39 Aquinas lead heading into the final frame.

Colonia wouldn’t get any closer though.  Instead, Aquinas put the game away by scoring the first eight points of the fourth in just 1:38 as Jones scored on a layup in transition and added a three while handing out another assist on a layup by Pitts for a commanding 59-39 lead with under six and a half minutes to play in the game.

The Patriots scored 5 of the next 7 points including a dunk off a steal by Derkack to close within 61-44 with 3:11 to play, but the Trojans wrapped up the victory with 8 of the last 10 points consisting of a two handed jam from Thomas with under three minutes to go, an open court layup by Kamal Lee at the 1:53 mark, and a layup with 20 seconds to play by big man Chris Santner.

Aquinas outscored Colonia by a margin of 34-16 in the second half, and 49-21 over the last 20:24 of the contest.  Both teams came into the contest undefeated in both GMC Red Division and conference play.  Colonia’s only loss was out of conference to Westfield of Union County (54-51) on December 27th in the Eric LeGrand Holiday Jubilee in Colonia.

Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas had opened the season with 11 straight victories before losing to Camden Eastside in the Seagull Classic at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon on Sunday.  The Trojans went three overtimes before falling to the Tigers (73-72).  Camden Eastside just lost its first game of the season to crosstown rival, Camden (81-48).

The game opened up with both teams going back and forth.  Aquinas opened the contest by scoring 6 of the first 8 points before Colonia scored six straight to take an 8-6 lead.  The Trojans then scored six straight of their own to go up 12-8 before the Pats rallied with 6 of the next 8 to tie the game up at 14-14.  Kelly then closed out the frenetic first quarter with a pull-up jumper from just beyond the foul line and got a good bounce for a 16-14 Aquinas edge heading into the second.

The victory was Aquinas’ fourth in a row against Colonia, and 6th in the last 7 meetings since the 2020 GMCT Quarterfinals.  With the win, St. Thomas Aquinas improved to 12-1 overall including a 7-0 mark in the GMC Red and in conference.  Colonia loses its first division and conference game, and drops to 10-2 on the season.  Both teams are back in action with non-conference tilts over the holiday weekend.

On Saturday, the Trojans will face off against Dade Christian of Florida in the MLK Classic at Rowan University on Saturday night at 7:30 PM.  Colonia will take on Linden in the Investors Games at Kean University at 2:30 PM.  Then, on Monday, Aquinas returns to action in the annual MLK Round Ball Classic at New Brunswick High School versus Plainfield at 11:30 AM.  It is one of five games at NBHS on Monday.