"When we walked in here and saw all the pictures, it got us focused because we knew what he could do and how dangerous he could be," Bound Brook senior Mike Schieferstein said of the 6-foot-7 forward. "Shutting him down was the key to the game."

Defending Kolb with a mix of box-and-one and diamond-and-one zones, with Schieferstein in charge of ball denial, the Crusaders held a slight lead for most of the first half. Senior forward Denzel Sanders was the go-to guy, finishing with 28 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

It was 35-35 after three quarters when Schieferstein gave Bound Brook the lead for good on a fast-break layup. Sanders followed that with a put-back, and the Crusaders point guard made 12 trips to the free-throw line over the final 4:20 and converted 11 of them. He finished with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as Bound Brook prevailed despite not making a 3-point shot.

"Coach told us the key (on offense) was to make perimeter shots and then pound it inside," Sanders said. "The perimeter shots weren't falling, so we kept pounding it inside."

With the win, 11th-seeded Bound Brook improved to 10-7, including 6-1 at home. The Crusaders will visit No. 6 seed Immaculata at 3 p.m. next Saturday.

Bernards, the No. 14 seed, fell to 8-6. Sophomore forward Ryan Zeccola paced the Mountaineers with 10 points.

"We haven't beaten Bernards the last three years," Sanders said. "This is a good win for our program.