In the biggest moments of its contest against John F. Kennedy Memorial High School on Jan. 28, the North Brunswick Township High School boys’ basketball team shined bright to win its 10th game this winter.
Led by junior Jabri Fitzpatrick and senior Corey Smith, the Raiders outscored the Mustangs, 7-4, in the final two and half minutes to earn a 51-48 victory in North Brunswick.
The victory lifted North Brunswick to 10-4 on the season.
“Our defense carried us,” said North Brunswick coach Ed Breheney. “As a team, we understand that a game is a full 32 minutes. There were moments that didn’t look good, but our guys were able to see it through to the end and I’m very proud of them about that.”
Off a great steal by Christian Salazar, Fitzpatrick received a pass from his teammate running up the court and threw down a monster two-handed slam dunk to put the Raiders up 46-45 with just under 1:50 remaining in the contest.
Fitzpatrick finished with a team-high 25 points in the contest.
Moments later, Smith stepped up big time for the Raiders with his second three-pointer of the contest to put North Brunswick up 49-46.
Smith went on to go two-for-two at the free-throw line to extend the North Brunswick lead to 51-46 with 51 seconds left to play.
The senior scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, 11 of which coming in the fourth quarter.
It’s the third straight game that North Brunswick has held its opponent to under 50 points. North Brunswick is holding its opponents to just under 50 points a contest this season.
Junior Ayman Pitts led JFK Iselin with a game-high 26 points. With the loss, the Mustangs fell to 6-9 on the season
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