No. 2 Salem CC shakes slow start, erupts for 100 points and 12th straight win; women’s game canceled
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The way this Salem CC basketball team has been going this season even with a disjointed start you got the sense once the first shot fell through the points were just going to keep coming.
But they had to get the first one and the way it started it didn’t look like either team would.
The Mighty Oaks didn’t score in the first five minutes of the game Tuesday night, but they racked up 100 over the next 34 minutes and put away RCSJ-Gloucester 100-72 to remain undefeated and pull into a share of the Region XIX Division III lead with fourth-ranked Union.
“We just had to see the ball go in the hoop,” said freshman Idris Rines, one of a season-high seven Mighty Oaks scorers in double figures. “Defensively, we held a team to zero points, so it’s not like we were asleep or anything. We couldn’t get shots to fall. We settled for a lot of 3s, weren’t getting to the rim or anything. Once we’d seen finally a layup go through everybody just seen the ball go through the hoop the rest of the game.”
“I knew once we made one shot we were going to keep hitting and going on our runs,” added point guard Saaid Lee.
Neither team could put the ball in the basket early and it was scoreless through the first four minutes of play.
The Roadrunners (4-7) finally scored on a putback 4:15 into the game and went up 4-0. Qua Smith finally broke the ice for second-ranked Salem with 14:50 left in the half and the bucket jumpstarted a 19-0 run that gave the Mighty Oaks (12-0) control of the game.
The Mighty Oaks got to the gym late and it took them a bit to settle in. They opened the game with 11 empty possessions, going 0-for-8 with five turnovers. But they still played good defense, forcing the Roadrunners to go 0-for-3 with six turnovers before somebody scored.
“We were supposed to be here 5:45, guys got here like 6; basketball gods aren’t going to reward that, so that’s probably why we started off so slow,” Lee said. “We just had a lot of brain farts and had to wake up.”
Head coach Mike Green put it a little more delicately.
“We missed shots; shots we normally make, we missed,” he said. “You see a zone and you automatically think shoot 3, 3, 3. We started working the ball. We started getting in the paint, getting finishes, and we took off from there. They picked it up. They listened to what we said and got going.”
Once the Mighty Oaks scored, they never stopped. They scored on eight of their next possessions, going 7-of-11 from the field capped by their first 3-pointer of the game from Zyaire Gibson. And they continued playing strong defense, holding the Roadrunners to 2-of-12 shooting and 10 turnovers in the spree.
The Roadrunners gathered themselves during a timeout and clawed back to within five with 6:23 left in the half, but then the Mighty Oaks put together a 15-4 run to eventually build an 18-point halftime lead.
All five starters scored in double figures for the third time this season, and then some. They got 36 points off the bench. Nasseem Wright was their leading scorer and rebounder with 18 points and eight, respectively.
Lee enjoyed his first double-double on any level with 11 points and 10 assists, easily winning a playful bet he made with someone in a Hawaiian shirt in the stands that he’d get seven assists in the game. Four of his five assists in the second half produced 3-pointers. He also had five steals.
“I just try to be good at my role, create for my teammates, play fast, defend the ball, all that,” Lee said.
Rines came off the bench with 15 points and seven rebounds. Stefan Phillips scored all 10 of his points in the second half and didn’t miss a shot. Jarrell Little had 14 points while Gibson and reserve Jaiayre Wright each had 11.
“Everybody does their role,” Rines said. “Some teams play five or six dudes that are really good (players), but we have 11 people who can go, get out, run. Everybody fills their role. For me, specifically, tonight, I was trying to get up the floor, get open shots, not force anything, and do what everybody needed.”
Despite missing so many shots early, the Mighty Oaks still wound up shooting 50 percent from the field for the game.
Ace Lassiter led the Roadrunners with 14 points. Freshman Jabez DeJesus, a senior at Salem High two years ago, scored his team’s last five points of the first half and finished with a collegiate career-high 11. He had scored 10 points total in six previous appearances.
SALEM CC 100, RCSJ-GLOUCESTER 72
RCSJ-GLOUCESTER (4-7): Dasir Williams-Bey 0-7 2-2 2, Ace Lassiter 5-12 1-1 14, Hajir Davis 2-6 4-4 8, Nasir Baker 6-8 0-0 12, Aiden Cranmer 1-4 0-0 3, Zair Green 1-1 1-2 4, Julian Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, Amara Cacko 3-10 0-0 7, Jerome Cuff 1-2 0-0 3, Sydney Maynard III 0-0 0-0 0, Jabez DeJesus 3-5 5-6 11. Totals 25-59 13-15 72.
SALEM CC (12-0): Jarrell Little 5-12 2-2 14, Saaid Lee 5-8 1-3 11, Zyaire Gibson 4-9 0-0 11, Nasseem Wright 8-14 2-4 18, Stefan Phillips 4-7 0-0 10, Jahseir Sayles 1-9 0-0 3, Jaiayre Wright 4-5 2-3 11, Qua Smith 3-6 1-2 7, Idris Rines 4-6 5-6 15, Michael Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-76 13-20 100.
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 33 | 39- | 72 |
| Salem CC | 51 | 49- | 100 |
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (2) | 8-0 | 12-0 | 5-0 |
| Union (4) | 8-0 | 9-0 | 6-0 |
| Northampton (5) | 7-0 | 11-0 | |
| Montgomery (10) | 4-0 | 5-1 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 9-2 | 9-4 | 5-2 |
| Camden | 7-3 | 7-3 | 5-2 |
| Ocean | 6-3 | 6-3 | 3-2 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 4-3 | 5-4 | 4-2 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 2-3 | 5-6 | |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 3-6 | 4-7 | 1-3 |
| Bergen | 4-8 | 5-8 | 2-5 |
| Atlantic Cape | 2-6 | 3-6 | 2-6 |
| Passaic | 2-6 | 2-7 | 2-4 |
| Sussex | 2-7 | 3-8 | 1-6 |
| Harrisburg Area | 1-4 | 1-9 | |
| Philadelphia | 1-7 | 4-7 | |
| Delaware County | 1-8 | 2-9 | |
| Luzerne | 0-5 | 3-6 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 100, RCSJ-Gloucester 72
Camden 75, Bergen 65
Brookdale 85, Sussex 58
Atlantic Cape 73, RCSJ-Cumberland 61
Middlesex at Raritan Valley
Morris 77, Westchester 73
Luzerne 84, Delaware County 80
Mercer 77, Lackawanna 66
Northampton 70, Thaddeus Stevens 69
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem at RCSJ-Cumberland
Union at Ocean
Lackawanna at Penn State Scranton
Luzerne at Harrisburg Area
Delaware County at Southern Maryland
Passaic at Borough of Manhattan CC
Bucks at Philadelphia
Rockland at Essex
Montgomery at Northampton
Orange County at Sussex
Middlesex at Delaware Tech
Westchester at Raritän Valley
Bergen at Dutchess
RCSJ-Gloucester at Brookdale
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Union (4) | 7-0 | 13-0 | 5-0 |
| Harcum (7) | 5-0 | 10-1 | |
| Mercer (22) | 5-1 | 9-2 | 2-0 |
| Essex | 3-2 | 6-3 | 3-1 |
| Raritan Valley | 2-3 | 4-5 | 2-2 |
| Lackawanna | 2-4 | 2-7 | |
| Delaware Tech | 1-3 | 2-9 | |
| Middlesex | 1-5 | 5-8 | 0-3 |
| Morris | 0-4 | 0-4 | 0-3 |
| SALEM CC | 0-5 | 0-7 | 0-3 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Morris at Salem CC, canceled
Camden 70, Bergen 31
Middlesex at Raritan Valley
Northampton 81, Ocean 31
Harcum 103, Essex 60
Atlantic Cape 96, RCSJ-Cumberland 32
Brookdale 63, Sussex 51
Passaic 46, Montgomery 39
RCSJ-Gloucester 68, Philadelphia 63
Mercer 100, Lackawanna 36
Union 106, Delaware Tech 60
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Montgomery at Northampton
Middlesex at Delaware Tech
RCSJ-Gloucester at Brookdale
LaGuardia at Essex
Westchester at Raritan Valley
Union at Harcum
Orange County at Sussex
Monroe at Mercer
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