Union Catholic Basketball Defeats Scotch Plains

Both teams have had up-and-down seasons so far, both were coming off tough losses that went down to the wire, while both also have a number of promising juniors who might still be a year away from leading their squads to more than just a record over .500.

Taking all of those factors into consideration, it's no surprise that Tuesday afternoon's boys' basketball battle of Scotch Plains went down to the wire.

With the game on the line late in the fourth quarter, it was an inside basket by 6-11 junior center Mike Marciano – off a pass from junior Brian Flores – that gave visiting Union Catholic its sixth and final lead and propelled it to an eventual 43-41 Union County Conference-interdivision triumph over Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

UCC Mountain Division squad Union Catholic improved to 6-4, while Watchung Division in-town rival Scotch Plains fell to 4-5.

Flores and fellow junior teammate Jamaad Nash paced the Vikings with 13 points, while Marciano scored nine.

Flores, who also had six rebounds, seven steals and one block, realized that Union Catholic had to play much better defensively after giving up an average of 62 points in three games last week, with only one being a victory.

"We came out with intensity," Flores said.

Down by two and in possession of the ball with 12.4 seconds left, Scotch Plains' Tim Bonacum passed to Patrick Dougher, who passed to go-to player Charles Oliver, who let go a 3-point shot for the victory that bounced off the rim right before the final buzzer sounded.

Oliver paced all scorers with 19 points and made four 3-pointers, but was limited to just one field goal in the second half – his final 3-pointer, which he made earlier in the fourth quarter.

"All we tried to do was hedge on him so he doesn't look for his shot," Flores said. "Our defense pulled us through."

Oliver's 3-pointer in the fourth – a superb shot he hit from the right side sliding along the floor and fading away - which is becoming an Oliver trademark shot – tied the score at 40-40 with 1:47 remaining.

Union Catholic began the fourth quarter with a six-point lead at 33-27 and also had six-point leads of 36-30 and 38-32. There were also some chances to build the lead even more, but shots didn't fall.

Scotch Plains pulled to within 38-37 with 2:10 left after baskets by senior forward Alfredo Pawid and junior guard Patrick Dougher. Pawid hit a shot from the left side and then Dougher connected on his second 3-pointer, this one from the top of the key.

An inside basket by Nash put Union Catholic ahead 40-37. Nash made three of six free throws in the fourth and also contributed five rebounds and three steals.

The Vikings made four of eight free throws in the fourth quarter and eight of 16 for the game.

"We scored a couple of baskets there in the last two minutes and I wished we would have made the free throws so it wouldn't come down to the last shot," said eighth-year Union Catholic head coach James Reagan Jr.

Last week, Union Catholic lost at home to Hillside 58-55, defeated Johnson 84-65 at home and then fell at home to St. Mary's of Elizabeth 65-62.

To limit Scotch Plains to only 41 points – including two quarters where the Raiders scored less than 10 points – was definitely a defensive upgrade by the Vikings.

"We got stops defensively, like we've been talking about, and we were able to score down the stretch," Reagan Jr. said. "We played man straight through, with less help on the two shooters – Oliver and Dougher. We felt we were right there last week in two games, we just didn't get the key stop and the key execution offensively down the stretch and today we were able to do it in a tough environment, on the road. This was a good win for us."

NOTES: UC's Marciano also grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots.

SP-F's Oliver also had five rebounds and four steals and junior teammate Mike Manns two points, five rebounds and one steal.

In the first half, Union Catholic shot 9-for-27 from the field and made 1-of-2 from the free throw line. In the second half, the Vikings shot 7-of-18 from the field and made 7-of-14 from the free throw line.

In the first half, Scotch Plains shot 8-for-21 from the field and made 2-of-4 from the free throw line. In the second half, the Raiders shot 6-for-24 from the field and made 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Union Catholic will next host New Providence Thursday night at 7 and then play at Summit Friday night at 7.

Scotch Plains will next host Union Thursday at 4 p.m. and then face St. Mary's of Elizabeth Saturday at 5 p.m. in the 16th annual Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless Classic at the Dunn Sport Center in Elizabeth. The Scotch Plains-St. Mary's game is the first of three contests, with Elizabeth vs. Ridge and then St. Patrick vs. St. Benedict's to follow. 

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-INTERDIVISION GAME

UNION CATHOLIC (6-4)                            12     10     11    10 - 43

SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD (4-5)          9     14      4     14 - 41 

UNION CATHOLIC (43): Jamaad Nash 4-0-5-13, Mike Marciano 4-0-1-9, Zach Dlabik 2-0-1-5, Brian Flores 3-2-1-13, Dave Herren 0-1-0-3.Totals: 13-3-8-43.

Starters: Flores, Nash, Herren, Marciano, Dlabik.

SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD (41): Patrick Dougher 0-2-1-7, Charles Oliver 2-4-3-19, Alfredo Pawid 2-0-0-4, Matt Jegede 1-0-1-3, Matt Manns 1-0-0-2, Tim Bonacum 0-2-0-6. Totals: 6-8-5-41.

Starters: Dougher, Bonacum, Pawid, Manns, Oliver.