Monroe, NJ- Yesterday, February 18th, the Piscataway Chiefs Men’s Basketball team defeated the Colonia Patriots 64-61 in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Semi-Finals at Monroe Township High school. Piscataway came back trailing by 6 at halftime with a dominant second half performance led by Senior forward, Donald Nwaigwe, who had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Piscataway Head Coach, Bob Turco, described the game as a “revenge” game as Piscataway gets revenge for last year’s GMC Finals, where Colonia beat Piscataway 70-63.
How it happened
The game started off very slow, with many defensive and offensive fouls resulting in changes of possession. The defense early on in the game set the tone for what was to come. The score was Colonia 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, both teams held very strong. Piscataway’s defense was able to contain Colonia’s Jayce Rodriguez, a trend that continued the whole game as they held him to 13 points. Piscataway Head Coach, Bob Turco, was very proud of this team’s defense tonight.
“If we don’t play defense, we’re not gonna win a lot of games, especially us” Turco said.
Piscataway only had 2 fully healthy players in the starting lineup tonight. At the same time, Colonia has a lot of players on their roster who they can sub into the game. Coach Turco talked about how that changed the game plan.
“We couldn’t play the defense we’re used to playing so I’m very proud of them because they had to do a lot more half court defense than we’ve done all year long and they adjusted and came through” Turco said. “We don’t have depth and we have three kids who are hurt…that made us play different. Speeding them up and trying to press them wouldn’t have helped because they have so much depth.”
After trailing 22-28 at halftime, Piscataway opened up the second half with a 6-0 run involving a three point shot by Senior guard, Josh Lima, and an and-one lay up by Senior forward, Isaiah Fowler. Piscataway had managed to tie it within the first few minutes of the third quarter. Donald Nwaigwe commented on Coach Turco’s speech he gave at halftime.
“Coach Turc[o], gave a great speech. We knew we weren’t losing because they were beating us, we knew we were losing because we were just losing” Nwaigwe said.
Piscataway took their first lead of the night after a 3 point shot by Junior guard, Landon Pernell. Both teams proceeded to go back and forth with many lead changes until Pernell was able to force 2 back to back turnovers that resulted in easy lay ups which put Piscataway ahead 48-42 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was filled with nail biting moments such as a 3 point shot by Lima that Colonia responded with a 6-0 run to make it 54-52 with 3:12 to go. Fortunately for Piscataway, they were able to counter with a 7-2 run that involved a posterizing dunk by Nwaigwe over Colonia Senior guard Nfa Clyne. Colonia was able to bring it back within 3 after a 3 point shot by Colonia Sophomore guard Jayce Rodriguez. However, Piscataway was able to secure the win with free throws from Junior guard, Izayah Brown, winning 64-61.
Coach Turco described this game as a revenge game from last years GMC finals.
“Yes, a revenge game. They beat us last year, they beat us the last time we played them, and the truth of the matter is you don’t get many chances to have a redemption” Turco said. “We got a chance to play them again after they beat us in the finals and they[we] stepped up and did what they[we] had to do.”
Player performances
Piscataway was led by Nwaigwe who had 17 points, 7 rebounds, Brown who had 16 points, and Pernell who had 14 points. Coach Turco commented on Brown’s performance.
“We have what we call a rip series that we do every day and he’s getting better at it. He’s young and he needed to do what he had to do. So, I’m glad he was aggressive tonight.”
Nwaigwe is only 24 points away from 1000 career points, something a Piscataway Men’s basketball player hasn’t achieved since 2006. Here is how he feels about the milestone:
“It’s definitely on my mind but winning matters more to me. So, if I don’t hit it, I don’t hit it. If we come out with the win, I’m just happy, that’s all I want.
What’s next?
The Piscataway Chiefs (20-6) return to Monroe Township High School on Friday, February 20th, at 8pm to play against the No. 9 St. Joseph Metuchen (25-1) in the GMC championship.
