While there is nothing fun about a five-game losing streak, the one the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team is on has been particularly frustrating.
South Brunswick lost one of the games by three points. It led two of the other games in the fourth quarter.
"We have been competitive over our last few games, but we just haven't been able to close anyone out," South Brunswick Coach Joe Hoehman said. "We know we can play with anybody, now it's just a matter of going out there and doing it."
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The toughest of the losses came at home on Feb. 5 as South Brunswick was edged by East Brunswick, 59-53, in overtime.
South Brunswick led this game 10-4 after the first quarter, 22-13 at the half and 37-29 going into the final eight minutes of play. It even led going into the final minute when Anthony Giusti tied the game on a three-pointer.
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Chris Bourne finished the game with 15 points for South Brunswick. Mike Green and TJ Taylor finished with 12 points each.
"In the East Brunswick game, we played great ball for three and a half quarters," Hoehman said. "We ended up giving up the lead with only about thirty seconds to go after leading the majority of the game."
South Brunswick was defeated by Piscataway, 38-35, on Jan. 25.
Kory Sanders scored nine points, Chris Bourne seven points, Danny Strickland six points and T.J. Taylor six points for South Brunswick.
South Brunswick was defeated by Colonia, 59-44, on Jan. 28.
TJ Taylor and Chris Bourne scored 12 points each for South Brunswick.
Perth Amboy rallied for a 61-60 win over South Brunswick on Feb. 3.
South Brunswick led 49-39 going into the final quarter. South Brunswick was also leading going into the final second of the game, but a buzzer-beater by Perth Amboy's Jonathan Rodriguez changed that.
Mike Green scored 17 points and Danny Strickland added 14 points for South Brunswick.
"In the end it comes down to limiting second chance opportunities for our opponents, and sinking our foul shots down the stretch," Hoehman said. "These have been two of our weaknesses over the last couple of weeks. If we want to contend for a title this post season, we have to dominate these two areas."
South Brunswick lost to St. Joe's, 58-44, on Feb. 8.
Danny Strickland scored 10 points for South Brunswick in the loss.
South Brunswick is scheduled to host Rutgers Prep on Feb. 10.
"Sitting at 8-9 right now, we really need to start playing better basketball heading into the end of the year tournaments," Hoehman said.
