Sayreville boys basketball advances to 1st GMC Tournament final since 2000

MONMOUTH JUNCTION - The Sayreville High School boys basketball team hasn't been to a Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final in 17 years, but that changed on Wednesday night.

The third-seeded Bombers defeated No. 2 South Brunswick 69-65 in overtime in the semifinals at South Brunswick High School to advance to their first GMC Tournament final since 2000. Sayreville won its only title in 2000, while South Brunswick was aiming to get back to the final after losing to St. Joseph (Met.) last season.

"It's great for our school and our community, because we haven't been since 2000, so it's really a cool opportunity for us," Sayreville's Ryan O'Leary said. "It shows that we're more than a team, we're like a family, and we can come together and pretty much do anything."

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Sayreville (20-6) will face top-seeded St. Joseph in the final on Friday at 8 p.m. at Rutgers University. The Falcons, who advanced to their 10th-straight tournament final, defeated fourth-seeded Woodbridge 48-40 in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

Tied 60-60 at the end of regulation, South Brunswick (21-4) struck first as Mike Ugarte caused a turnover and connected on the ensuing three-point play to put the Vikings ahead 63-60 with 2:57 left. Ope Olaloko sank one free throw to get Sayreville within 63-61 with 2:41 left, but another basket from Ugarte pushed South Brunswick's lead to 65-61 with 2:10 to go.

Nine second later Ryan O'Leary went to the line and sank both free throws to pull the Bombers to within 65-63, and a turnover and a dunk from Olaloko with 1:02 remaining retied the game 65-65. O'Leary then connected on a three-point play to put Sayreville back in the lead, 68-65, and Jahsim Floyd hit one free throw with 4.5 seconds left for the 69-65 final.

"It was definitely a relief because I knew he was working hard all game and it worked out for us," Floyd said of O'Leary.

The two teams stayed close throughout the entire game, with South Brunswick leading 18-16 after one and a 31-31 tie at halftime. Sayreville outscored the Vikings 17-9 in the third quarter, sparked by Floyd's nine points, to take a 48-40 lead after three. In the fourth, the Bombers were up 10, 60-50, with 3:01 to play when South Brunswick staged its comeback.

"We were giving up loose balls and they were knocking down threes, so our momentum went down," Floyd said. "As a team we had to come together and step up and that's what we did."

Ryan Moran hit a 3-pointer with 2:44 to go to get the Vikings within 60-53, then was fouled and missed both free throws. Vic Huetz was able to grab the rebound after the second missed shot and hit a 3 of his own to cut Sayreville's lead to 60-56 with 1:48 left.

Ugarte then hit another 3-pointer with 1:22 left to get within one, 60-59, and with 1:13 to play Sayreville's Xavier Townes fouled out after a foul on Ryan Moran, who went to the line and sank one free throw to tie the game 60-60.

"Xavier fouled out and we all just came together as one, one team and we just played together," O'Leary said. "We knew we were going to win if we all played together, and that's what we did and we got the W. It's great when you play together as a team and get a win like that."

Floyd led the Bombers with 25 points and nine rebounds, which included seven-straight points to open the third quarter. Townes finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while O'Leary added 11 points.

For South Brunswick, Ugarte scored a season-high 33 points and pulled down five rebounds. Tavian Alford and Greg Lee each chipped in six points.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego