No. 4 Piscataway takes down No. 8 Colonia in double OT for first win over Patriots in 13 years

It was almost 13 years to the day – 13 years and two days, to be exact – so it seemed to make some cosmic sense that this would would take an extra eight minutes.

No. 4 Piscataway would need two overtimes, but the Chiefs topped No. 8 Colonia on the road Monday night, 75-73, for their first win over the Patriots since December 20, 2012 – in a contest heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – ending an eleven-game losing streak in the series.

Of course, the two head coaches – Bob Turco of Piscataway and Jose Rodriguez of Colonia – have coached against each other many times, including some big games over the years when Turco was at St. Thomas Aquinas, before he became head coach of the Chiefs last season, where they lost two regular season games to Colonia, and the GMC Tournament final.

Piscataway looked on its way to a win early on, playing its trademark defense – even if it wasn’t quite in midseason form yet – with Colonia missing on some shots, and looking tentative on offense. Still, they only trailed by five at the half, 33-28. It could have been more, except the Patriots’ Jayce Rodriguez got three gift free throws – and made two – as he got fouled on a prayer three at the buzzer that had no chance.

After the break, Colonia became more aggressive on offense, realizing they might not get many good looks at the basket. They worked harder, took some chancy shots, but started sinking them. They would take just their second lead of the game in the third quarter, and go up by as many as eight late in the period, up 45-37 heading into what many figured would be the last eight minutes of the game.

In the fourth, the lead changed hands a couple of times. In the 90 seconds, Piscataway took a 53-52 lead on a baseline layup by Josh Lima. After two fouls the other way, the Patriots were in the bonus, and sophomore Chris Charles split a pair to tie the game at 53.

Dylan Chiera found Jayden Johnson with 52 seconds to go on a backdoor pass, then Lima found Donald Nwaigwe with 38 seconds left on a layup for the answer, tying it at 55. Then after a rebound and time out, Colonia got called for a five-second violation, Piscataway inbounded with 12 seconds to go but a Lima shot from the top of the key over a double team missed everything to send the game to overtime.

The teams would trade the lead a few more times in the first OT. With 30 seconds left, Lima picked up a steal for the Chiefs, drove to the foul line with 14.5 to go and dropped in a scoop layup, drawing contact, to go up one, 64-63. But he missed the and-one free throw, Colonia got the ball after it went off Piscataway on the rebound.

The Patriots drew a foul on Lima, his fifth, ending his night. Rodriguez hit the first to tie it 64-64, but missed the second with 8.6 seconds remaining. Piscataway got the rebound, and called time out, but with 1.8 seconds left, Nfa Clyne got called for his fifth, to foul out, and Tyler West went to the foul line for two, right in the face of the student section, the “Colonia Crazies.”

West missed both free throws, Colonia got the rebound with 0.1 on the clock, and the officials put two-tenths back on, not enough time for any more than a tip-in. They inbounded to Rodriguez, and his three-quarter court three wasn’t close, sending the game to overtime No. 2.

The lead again went back and fourth in the sixth period. With 1:03 to go, Isaiah Fowler got fouled on a three that he missed, but he made all three from the line to tie the game at 69. Colonia countered with a putback by Chiera to make it 71-69. Rodriguez committed a foul on the other end, putting Fowler back at the line, where he split a pair to make it 71-70.

On the rebound off the second shot, Donald Nwaigwe got a putback to put the Chiefs up by one, but then he committed a foul in the backcourt, sending Rodriguez to the line where he hit both to make it 73-72 Colonia. Nwaigwe got fouled the other way, and tied it up by making both to put the Chiefs up 74-73 with 54.5 left.

Colonia came down the floor, ran some clock, and after a miss, got a rebound from Jayden Johnson with 30.6 on the clock, prompting the Patriots to call their last time out.

Rodriguez drove to the basket and had a shot rim-out, with the Chiefs getting the rebound, and drawing a foul. That’s where Isaiah Fowler hit the first to go up two, then missed the second. A rebound by Jayden Johnson gave Colonia the ball, and a pull-up three for the lead missed, while the rebound went to the Chiefs who hurled the ball down the floor to seal the deal, winning it 75-73.

Watch the game’s final sequence, with play-by-play by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel!

For Colonia (2-3, 2-2 GMC Red American), Jayce Rodriguez scored a career-high 37 points, eight in overtime, and he hit four treys. The only other player in double figures for the Pats was Chiera, with ten.

Piscataway (5-0, 3-0 GMC Red American) got 25 from Nwaigwe, including seven in OT, and 18 from Isaiah Fowler. Lima added 15 for the Chiefs.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Piscataway junior Izayah Brown and head coach Bob Turco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: