St. Joseph survives major scare from valiant Spotswood, but top eight are the final eight advancing to boys’ GMC Tournament Quarterfinals

In the upset alert of the night, Spotswood took St. Joseph of Metuchen almost literally to the wire, but the 13-seeded Chargers – who were bombing away from three all night – fell to the 4th-seeded Falcons 75-52.

It was the closest game of the night as all eight higher seeds advanced to Sunday’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament quarterfinals, to be held at Middlesex County College in Edison.

Below is a recap of all eight First Round games played Thursday night. Scroll all the way to the end for the Sunday matchups, along with tip-off times.

#4 St. Joseph-Metuchen 75, #13 Spotswood 72

Easily the wildest game of the evening, the Chargers (17-5) nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament in recent memory. Riding a four-game winning streak, they hit from beyond the arc and forced the Falcons (14-9) into turnovers throughout the first half. Spotswood led 50-48 at the end of three, and 63-62 as late as midway through the fourth quarter, but each time they jumped back ahead, St. Joe’s had an answer. With three minutes and change left in the third, the Chargers’ Casey Cumiskey hit a three to go up one, but the Falcons’ Josh Ingram answered to back ahead by two. Daniel Yarus hit a layup to tie it, then Jeremy DeCaro’s three gave the Falcons’ a 68-65 lead that Spotswood could not overcome. To add to the drama, senior Josh Ingram scored his 1,000th career point, and now has 1,023 overall. He needed 15 coming into the game and finished the night with 38.

Click here to hear St. Joe’s head coach Jan Cocoziello talk about the win:

#1 St. Thomas Aquinas 81, #16 East Brunswick 50

The Bears hung in for the first half against the two-time defending champion Trojans, but St. Thomas pulled away after a single-digit, 34-25 halftime lead. They outscored East Brunswick 19-13 in the third quarter, then turned the lights out with a 28-12 fourth to put things out of reach for good. St. Thomas (21-3) had four in double-figures, with senior Terrell Pitts carrying game-high honors with 17. Trenton Catholic junior transfer Michael “Deuce” Jones added 16, while fellow junior Samir Thomas added 11, and senior Jalen Pichardo contributed ten. East Brunswick (9-14) was led by Matt Mikulka’s 13 points. The win is the ninth straight in full GMC Tournament play for Aquinas.

#8 Piscataway 60, #9 Perth Amboy 49

The Chiefs (11-14) are the only sub-.500 team to make the GMC Tournament quarterfinals, and did it with a win over a Perth Amboy squad (11-11) that was a game above that mark coming in. Senior Evan Benson – who played the last two seasons at Wardlaw-Hartirdge – scored a season-high 20 in the victory, while fellow senior Jonathan Carman added 18 for Piscataway, which took just a two-point lead into the second quarter, but led 33-22 at halftime, with the Panthers playing even the rest of the way. Senior Aaron Rambajan, Jr., led the Panthers with 15 points.

#5 South Plainfield 63, #12 Woodbridge 45

Senior Tareak Williams had his second straight 20-plus point game, scoring 20 in to lead the Tigers (20-4) past the Barrons (12-10). Fellow senior Brandon Dean also chipped in 18 in the victory, which saw South Plainfield with a 15-8 lead after one quarter, though the Barrons kept it to an eight-point game at the half. Micah Eason led visiting Woodbridge with 15 points

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#3 South River 90, #19 Middlesex 58

There was little doubt in this one, as the Rams started GMC Tournament play strong, with a 25-11 first quarter, and took a 45-24 lead into the locker-room. Middlesex would get now closer as the South River (22-2) continued to keep the game out of arms’ reach in the second half. Seniors Roman Santos and Laz Rodriguez led the way with 20 and 15 points, respectively, for the Rams, who also got ten from fellow senior Gavin Franco. Middlesex dropped to 15-9 with the loss.

#6 North Brunswick 77, #11 Old Bridge 65

Senior Alani Ajigbotosho led the way with 24 points for the Raiders (20-3) while fellow senior Jurmire Jones had seven threes in a 23-point game, to lead North Brunswick to its first appearance in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals since 2014. The Knights (10-12) hit 13 times from beyond the arc in the losing effort. It was also the 458th career coaching win for North Brunswick’s Ed Breheny, according to Korbid Thompson of the King James Radio Network.

Click below for postgame comments from North Brunswick head coach Ed Breheney:

#7 South Brunswick 65, #10 JP Stevens 52

The Vikings (15-5) and Hawks (10-13) were locked in a low-scoring duel for the first eight minutes, tied 11-11 after one quarter of play. But South Brunswick used the middle two quarters to take a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter, a lead they would not relinquish. Senior Kalani Antonie had a near-career best night, with 33 points, including four treys, while hitting eleven free throws in the win.

Boys’ GMC Tournament Quarterfinal Schedule
Sunday, February 12 at Middlesex County College in Edison