Piscataway senior Donald Nwaigwe heads to the basket in the GMC Tournament semifinals against Colonia at Monroe Twp. High School on February 18, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
An hour or so before Wednesday night’s GMC Tournament semifinal, Piscataway came into the gym as a walking MASH unit.
Senior Josh Lima was about 80-percent due to a tight quad, head coach Bob Turco said before the game. Tyler West had a tricky knee and didn’t get to play much, in the end, And Landon Pernell, the football team quarterback just starting to get his basketball legs, also has been bothered by a calf injury
But the second-seeded Chiefs – though they were down 28-22 at the half – persevered, and had others step up, in coming out with a 64-61 win over third-seed Colonia, sending Piscataway back to the GMC’s championship game for a second year in a row.
The Chiefs (20-6) made it there last year in a big turnaround under first-year head coach Bob Turco, who raised eyebrows when he left St. Thomas Aquinas, where he had won GMC titles in 2020, 2022 and 2023. He got bested last year by his former ballplayer at Carteret and protege Jose Rodriguez and Colonia in the final, but not this time.
Turco told his team at halftime they just needed to execute. They had the game plan. Just go out and do it. And do it they did.
After Izayah Brown kept the team in the game early with eight first half points off the bench to lead the Chiefs, the starters took the ball and ran with it, literally, in the second half.
It was a tight game throughout. No one led by more than seven. Piscataway came out hot to start the second half and finally – after chipping away – got their first lead of the game at the 4:01 mark of the third period on a three by Landon Pernell. Another shortly after extended their lead, and while there were a couple of ties after that, the Chiefs never gave the lead back.
Pernell finished with 14, Brown with 16, and senior Donald Nwaigwe finished with 17, including a monster dunk late with the game still in the balance.
Dylan Chiera led Colonia (16-9) – which had gone 14-2 since a tough 2-6 start – with 14 points, while Jayce Rodriguez added 13, but the team’s leading three-point shooter – who had 66 on the year coming in – was held to just one make from beyond the arc.
Piscataway will face the winner of the second Wednesday night semifinal between top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas. The final will be back here at Monroe Twp. High School at 8 pm, following the girls’ title game between St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick at 6 pm. Both games can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Click below for postgame reaction from Piscataway senior Donald Nwaigwe and head coach Bob Turco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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