The Colonia High School boys basketball team avenged its only division loss, one suffered at the hands of the Monroe High School in the second game of the season, with a thrilling overtime victory over the Falcons last week by a 58-49 score. The win put the Patriots in a two-way tie with Monroe for the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division lead. Overall, Colonia heads into this week’s action 15-2, with its other loss to St. Anthony.
“It was a big rematch for us,” Colonia head coach Chris Chiera said. “We came out strong and jumped out to a 15-2 lead, but this lead vanished and we actually trailed by seven heading into the fourth quarter.”
Colonia’s Nnamdi Usuwa sent the game into overtime when he tied the score on a layup with five seconds left on the clock. Usuwa was unstoppable nearly every time he touched the ball, finishing with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
“Playing at home is always a big advantage for us, and it was a factor in this game,” Chiera said. “The gym was sold out and we had plenty of fan support. Monroe is a very good team, and they battled back after we started out so well. Fortunately, we were able to take control in the fourth quarter and had enough juice left in the end to come away with the win.”
Colonia went on a similar roll in which it opened the game to close out the contest. Patriot C.J. Gray gave the team a needed spark off the bench to score six in the overtime period. Colonia’s Mike Nweme finished with 13 points, and J.J. D’Amico added 10. D’Amico also finished with six assists.
Prior to the win over Monroe, Colonia registered wins over Cardinal McCarrick and Sayreville. The win over McCarrick was by 15, but the Sayreville contest was another overtime affair won on a layup by Tyler Jackow with six seconds left.
Usuwa and Nweme led the Patriots with 17 and 13 points, respectively. The frontcourt duo combined for 23 rebounds.
“Our top three guys, D’Amico, Nweme, and Usuwa, have been carrying us offensively,” Chiera said. “We’ve also been getting some great minutes out of Mike Karabin and Jordan Edmonds. Defensively, they’ve been outstanding.”