Falcons Remain Undefeated at 17-0 After Comeback Win
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| St. Joseph’s senior guard, Letrell West, seen here putting up a shot against St. John Vianney in the Non-Public A South Quarterfinals last year, scored 16 points to lead the Falcons to a 47-46 win over Neptune in overtime on Saturday. |
METUCHEN, NJ–The 2016-17 St. Joseph’s Falcons continue to amaze. Despite all of the changes and subtractions. Despite all of their youth and inexperience, the Falcons continue to find ways to win, and when that happens, it builds confidence.
Case in point was Saturday afternoon’s game against Neptune of the Shore Conference’s Class A North Division in a non-conference clash. The Falcons trailed throughout much of the game including a 27-18 deficit early in the fourth quarter, but despite having two freshmen in their starting five, and another freshman coming off the bench, there was no panic.
St. Joseph’s ended regulation by outscoring Neptune by a 21-12 margin over the last 14 minutes or so to force overtime, and then in the extra session, the Falcons scored 8 of 11 points to turn a 41-39 deficit into a 47-44 lead with seconds remaining. Neptune got a score before the buzzer after missing a three as St. Joe’s won, 47-46.
Once again, Letrell West led the way with a team high 16 points, but it was the play of freshman guard, Tyree Taganeca-Ford that served as the impetus for the second half rally, and pivotal overtime run. Taganeca-Ford scored 15 points with 11 of those points including all three of his treys coming in the second half and overtime.
The other starting freshman, Richard Greaves also played a key role in the win with 7 points including two free throws in the overtime for a 44-41 lead with 37.4 seconds left after coming up with a huge steal on the defensive end. Malachi Walker had his hands full with Neptune’s Jared Kimbraugh, who had a game high 20 points, but managed to stay in the game, and come up with two huge putback dunks for his only points in the contest.
Zach Martini, a freshman reserve forward, came off the bench, and scored on a huge putback to tie the score at 17-17 in the second period while senior point guard, Mike Granda helped seal the win by making 3 of 4 from the line in the closing seconds of overtime. Jules Calhoun chipped in with 9 points in a losing cause for Neptune while teammates Dwaine Jones and Scott Fields added 7.
As team, St. Joseph’s collected 28 rebounds including 11 by Walker, 17 steals (4 each by Greaves and Taganeca-Ford), 6 assists, and 5 blocks (4 by Walker). Neptune outscored St. Joe’s in the first two periods while the Falcons won the last two quarters of regulation and the overtime for the win. Six different players scored for Joes while only five did for Neptune.
The Falcons outscored the Scarlet Fliers by a margin of 12-6 from long distance, but Neptune was able to stay in the game thanks to a 30-18 advantage in points scored from within the arc. St. Joe’s was able to prevail to some extent because of its free throw shooting where it was 17 of 23 from the line while Neptune was only 10 of 17. Neptune had 22 team fouls while St. Joe’s had 16.
Both teams struggled to get going early on with neither team scoring for the first several minutes until Neptune scored off a steal for a 2-0 lead. The Scarlet Fliers then added 4 of the next 6 points for a 6-2 lead before Taganeca-Ford drove down the middle for a layup at the 2:11 mark for a 6-4 Neptune lead. St. Joseph’s was outscored 4-2 the rest of the way with the Falcons only points coming on a putback dunk by Walker for a 10-6 Neptune lead heading into the second.
West then got going early on in the second with a drive down the right lane, and getting underneath Kimbraugh for a layup and a 10-8 Neptune lead at the 7:20 mark. The Scarlet Fliers then scored 5 of the next 7 points before West struck again on a step back three from the left side of the key for a 15-13 Neptune edge with five minutes to go in the first half.
The Falcons scored 4 of the next 6 points including a putback by Martini at the 2:54 mark of the second to tie the score at 17-17. Neptune took back control of the game though by finishing the first half on a 7-1 run including a long three before the buzzer by Dwaine Jones for a 24-18 lead at the intermission. The Fliers then scored the first three points of the second half for a 27-18 lead with about six minutes to go in the third.
Taganeca-Ford then started the St. Joe’s comeback by getting an offensive rebound, and going down the right side of the paint for a layup at the 5:36 mark. Following a Falcons timeout, Taganeca-Ford struck again for a three pointer from the right wing at about the 4:45 mark to narrow the deficit to four at 27-23. Neptune kept the Falcons at arm’s length for the time being though by scoring the next four points including another bucket by Kimbraugh for a 31-23 lead at the 3:00 mark.
Taking advantage of some fouls, St. Joe’s was able to chip away at the deficit again with some free throws including two pairs of charity shots from West to pull within four at 32-28 after three periods. Neptune got the first points of the fourth before West hit a jumper from the right side of the key at the 6:34 mark, and Taganeca-Ford drained his second three from almost the same exact spot with 5:45 left in the fourth for a 34-33 Neptune lead.
Neptune was able to maintain its one point lead thanks to a score from the right low block by Kimbraugh at the 3:32 mark, but then Joes took a 37-36 lead on Walker’s second putback dunk of the game with 3:06 remaining in regulation. The Scarlet Fliers then scored the next three points of the game before West tied the contest at 39-39 on a leaner from the right lane that banked in off the glass with 2:08 to play in the fourth.
Neither team was able to score the rest of the way although both teams had their chances. St. Joseph’s managed to get the ball after Mike Granda drew a charge at the 1:39 mark, but after holding the ball for one shot, the Falcons were called for traveling after getting an offensive rebound off a missed shot with seconds to play. Neptune then missed on a shot from inside halfcourt as time expired with the score tied at 39-39.
In the extra session, Neptune drew first blood as Kimbraugh went to work with a spin move from the left low block for a layup and a 41-39 lead. The Scarlet Fliers were able to maintain that lead until the final minute of play when Taganeca-Ford struck for his third three of the game from just about the same location as his first two, and then Greaves came up with his huge steal and drew a foul that produced two free throws for a 44-41 lead with 37.4 seconds remaining.
Granda then made 3 of 4 from the line down the stretch including two foul shots with 7.6 seconds remaining for a 47-44 lead. Neptune still had a chance to tie, but the three point shot attempt it took was off the rim and rebounded by Kimbraugh, who threw in a shot that got a kind roll as time expired for the 47-46 final. With the victory, St. Joseph’s improved to 17-0 including a 6-0 mark against non-conference schools.
With the loss, Neptune fell to 10-6 overall including a 1-3 mark against non-conference schools. The Scarlet Fliers have lost 3 of their last 5 after winning 8 of 9 games. St. Joseph’s returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Perth Amboy for a GMC Red clash against the Panthers at 7:00 PM. Then, next Saturday, the Falcons host South Brunswick in a rematch of the thrilling game won by Joes on January 12th (56-53) in South Brunswick.