GMC Hoops Summary–Sayreville Hangs On To Beat Edison, 58-53

Bombers Survive Late Rally By Eagles As Taite Scores 1,000th

PARLIN, NJ–It was a very special night at the Bomb Shelter on the campus of Sayreville War Memorial High School.  For the eighth time in school history, the Bombers had a 1,000 point scorer.  Senior guard, Corey Taite scored on a drive to the basket for a floater with 1:33 to go in the first half to get his milestone.  The Bombers seemed to relax a bit after that, and turned what had been a close game late in the second period to a 14 point lead heading into the fourth.  However, the Edison Eagles weren’t going to go away that easily.

Led by Trayvon Washington, who had a team high 16 points in the contest, Edison put together a 17-4 tear over the first 6:39 of the final frame to pull within a point at 54-53 after a score by Washington with 1:21 left.  Washington scored six of those points in just about three minute’s time as he picked up steals by just grabbing the ball out of Sayreville players hands, and going straight to the bucket for scores.  The Eagles had a couple chances in the final half minute to either take the lead or tie, but were unable to.  Sayreville then took advantage by getting defensive rebounds, and drawing fouls.  Brian Gay (7 points) then made a pair of free throws for a 56-53 lead with 24 seconds left, and then Taite wrapped up the 58-53 win with two charity shots of his own with 13 seconds to go.

Taite ended up with 13 points to give him 1,008 for his career.  Nine of those came in the final 9 minutes or so of the first half including seven in the second period.  Bombers big man, Jehyve Floyd led all scorers though with 17 points including a couple of two handed flushes, and an even more impressive 5 of 5 from the free throw line.  Rob Seraji added 10 points for the winners.  The senior guard got off to a fast start with two threes, but then picked up his second foul midway through the first half, and had to go to the bench.  Helping out Washington on the Edison side was Devon Johnson, who scored 13 points while Raekwon Ross chipped in with 11 points.  All seven players that got into the game for the Bombers scored while all five of Edison starters got into the books.

Sayreville outscored Edison in each of the first three periods in building up its 14 point lead.  While the Eagles enjoyed a 20-16 edge in two point field goals made, the Bombers managed to pull out the win thanks to a 12-3 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, and a 14-10 advantage in points scored from the foul line.  The first quarter was the highest scoring period of the game with both teams combining for 38 points.  Edison jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a three point play by Washington after both teams went back and forth with misses for about the first minute of play.  Then, the Bombers got going with the next 7 points including a three by Seraji for a 7-3 lead.  Edison battled back though with the next 6 points to retake the lead, but Sayreville retook control with 9 unanswered points including another three by Seraji for a 16-9 lead with just over two minutes to play in the first.

Once more, Edison rallied with an 8-2 spurt in very short order.  Only a late basket by Taite for his first points of the game helped Sayreville stay in front.  The Bombers then added a three from football standout Miles Hartsfield (5 points) for the 21-17 lead heading into the second.  First period scoring had Seraji with 6, Floyd with 4, Hartsfield with 3, Taite, Gay, and Malik Pressley each adding two for Sayreville.  Edison was led by Johnson and Ross, who each had 7 points to complement Washington’s three point play to open the game.  The second quarter started with both teams playing even for roughly the first half of the frame.  Over the first 3:27 of the quarter, both teams scored four points including another bucket by Taite to help keep the Bombers in front, 25-21.   Each team than added two points for a 27-23 Sayreville lead with exactly two minutes left in the half.

Then, Edison crept to within two when an alleyoop pass by Taite for a dunk attempt by Floyd went awry, and Floyd was called for a technical for hanging on the rim.  Ross then got his only two points of the period for Edison by making both technical free throws for a 27-25 Sayreville lead.  History then happened as Taite picked up the ball in the Bombers backcourt, dribbled into the paint, and hit a floater to go over 1,000 points with 1:33 to go in the first half.  Taite’s historic bucket sparked a 7-0 run to end the half for Sayreville as Floyd followed up with a two handed stuff, and then Taite fired in a three from the right corner to put the Bombers up by a 34-25 margin at the half.  Johnson (11 points), Ross (9 points), and Washington (5 points) accounted for all of Edison’s first half scoring.   The Eagles had 9 field goals, one three, and went 4 of 4 from the line in the first half.

Sayreville had more balanced scoring in the first half with six different players getting into the books.  Floyd led the Bombers with 10 points including a 4 of 4 showing from the line while Taite chipped in with 9, and Seraji added 6.  The Bombers had all four of their threes in the first half in addition to 8 field goals and a 6 of 6 effort from the charity stripe.  The third period saw Sayreville extend its lead to double digits with a 16-11 showing.  The Bombers opened up the 2nd half with an 8-6 run for a 42-31 lead before a timeout was called at the 4:37 mark.   Edison then scored 4 of the next 7 points including a layup by Washington (5 points in third period) to close the gap to 45-35 with 1:41 remaining in the third.  However, the Bombers got themselves some breathing room heading into the final quarter by scoring 5 of the last 6 points including a buzzer beating shot by Gay to end the frame.  It was the second straight game that Gay ended the third period with a score.  Floyd scored 7 of his points in the period including another two handed jam.

Comfortably in front by a score of 50-36 at the start of the fourth quarter, Sayreville couldn’t put the game away.  Instead, the Edison Eagles applied a bit of fullcourt pressure with a 1-2-2 zone press, and began to put the Bombers back on their heels and force turnovers.  Washington nearly scored half of Edison’s fourth quarter points, and accounted for half his personal total in the game with 8 in the final period.  Sayreville could only muster two field goals in the final frame including a score by Seraji, and a bucket from reserve guard, Mike Valentin.  The Eagles first crept to within 9 points at 54-45 following a steal for a layup prior to calling timeout at the 4:16 mark.  Following the stoppage, Edison scored six more unanswered points in a span of just 1:24 for an 8-0 run that made the score 54-51 with 2:52 to play.  Despite suffering a setback with Ross fouling out the game with 2:09 remaining, the Eagles capped the 10-0 run with a bucket by Washington with 1:21 left to pull within one at 54-53.

Unfortunately for Eagles fans, Edison was unable to get any closer.  After getting the ball back, and calling timeout with 35 seconds to play.  Washington got the ball, and drove toward the basket, but took a shot that was off the mark.  Gay eventually rebounded the ball, drew a foul, and made two free throws for a 56-53 edge with 24 seconds left.  The Eagles had a chance to tie, but misfired on a three point attempt.  Taite eventually got the ball, drew a foul, and made two more free throws for a 58-53 lead with 13 seconds to play.  Sayreville then prevented Edison from scoring again, and came away with the 5 point victory.  With the win, the Bombers improved to 14-2 on the season, and 12-0 in the GMC including a 10-0 mark in White Division play.  Meanwhile, Edison falls to 8-7 overall, 7-7 in conference, and 5-4 in divisional play.