TCS vs. AL Nutley Play-In Game Feb. 21st, 2017

	Assists	Off. Rebounds	Def. Rebounds	Steals	Blocks	Points
Peter Yamasaki	3	3	5	3		19
Nicholas Yamasaki	5	1	2	1		6
Joey Lee			7	2	1	15
Chris Lee	3	3	2	2		8
Ian Stempert	3		3		1	8
Nikita Sifonios
Kyle Eliasen			2
Team Totals:	14	7	21	8	2	56

Tuesday night brought excitement and heart-pounding activity from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Your Trinity Trailblazers started off fast and furious, hammering their opponent with a barrage of shots both inside and out that caused the contenders to quickly burn two timeouts. As the paced settled into a more realistic and sustainable tempo, Trinity was able to maintain a comfortable lead of 7-10 points until about 4 minutes left in the second quarter. Peter Yamasaki, arguably one of the best guards in the conference found some foul trouble and was forced to sit and watch from the bench. The other guards, Nicholas Yamasaki and Kyle Eliasen did their part, but Nutley pushed back and was able to eat into the lead off of a couple of missed shots from Trinity. In the final 5 seconds of the half, Nutley pushed the ball up the court and found a player open on the baseline. He was able to drain the shot as time expired and Trinity entered the half holding on to a 5 point lead. 

The 3rd quarter opened up and the teams battled like a couple of sharks that smelled blood in the water. Baskets were shot at a furious rate and Trinity was able to build a their lead back to 11 points, but Nutley wasn't done yet. The opponent mounted a 4-0 run in the closing moments of the penultimate quarter and drew within 7. The 4th quarter remained much of the same with both teams making mini runs of 3-4 points only to see the other team respond in kind. Abundant Life Nutley lost one of it's better players due to fouling out, but they still were able to bring the game within 3 points with only a couple of minutes remaining. Emotions ran high with the crowd urging and willing the Trailblazers and Warriors to give everything they had. Cheers rang throughout the gym with the game yet to be decided. With a 1:30 remaining and trailing 46-50, AL Nutley began to foul in hopes of a Trinity missed free throw and a 3 pointer for Nutley. The plan was unsuccessful because Peter Yamasaki coolly sank 6 free throws in a row to seal the victory for Trinity. 

Joao Franco of AL Nutley was the game high scorer with 20 points. Peter Yamasaki led Trinity with 19 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Joey Lee produced 15 points and 7 rebounds. Nicholas Yamasaki stepped up big when Peter sat the bench and led the troops admirably. He dished out 5 assists to accompany his 6 points. Both big men for Trinity, Ian Stempert and Chris Lee, were the "unsung heroes" doing the little things that unfortunately don't show up in the stat book. Chris was tenacious on defense causing turnovers and 5 second calls. Ian took a handful of charges that erased several shot attempts from Nutley. Both worked hard in the paint and really clicked together all night. 

Final Score: TCS- 56, AL Nutley- 46

16-10 (10-6)

Up Next:
Tuesday night's win puts Trinity in the MCAA Conference Tournament in Parsippany. The Trailblazers take on Veritas in a #1 vs. #4 seed showdown. This will be the second game of the evening with a tip off at ~5:00 PM.

Directions:
https://goo.gl/maps/7y2DUSwAKyF2