No. 1 Mighty Oaks get strong showing from the bench, stay unbeaten in tuneup for Thursday’s showdown at Northampton
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The players and coaches were too focused on getting off the floor to really notice, but anyone paying attention in the immediate aftermath of the game and connecting the dots figured out the true No. 1 star Tuesday night.
Top-ranked Salem CC had just polished off RCSJ-Cumberland 99-73 and were heading to the locker room when the staffer playing the music in DuPont Fieldhouse cut loose — for the first time this season — the 2010 DJ Khaled victory anthem “All I Do Is Win (Win, Win, No Matter What).”
The only question is what took them so long to play it?
The Mighty Oaks have been undefeated since Opening Day. They ran their record to 19-0 Tuesday and won, won, won for the 21st straight game going back to last year’s run in the national tournament. They are 35-4 since the start of the second l semester last year.
Assistant coach Marvin Kilgore made the connection with the song, but the other coaches and players didn’t put it together until pointed out the irony.
“I didn’t even hear it,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “I was so caught up in the team.
“Good company. Our guys at the table, our guys coming to watch the game, they’re getting comfortable with winning. I guess it feels good.”
The game had the potential to be a real trap for the Mighty Oaks with their showdown at No. 5 Northampton Thursday that would solidify their hold on the Region 19 Division III standings and top seed in the region/district tournament. But they handled their business with a reasonably complete showing except for a stretch in the last six minutes when they suddenly went cold. But they were comfortably ahead by then and scored enough to turn back any comeback thoughts the Dukes entertained.
“The last six minutes were terrible,” Green said. “We want to play all the way through. We don’t have guys who are just playing garbage minutes; you guys’ minutes matter. I’m trying to get them to understand that. You’re expected to go out there and perform. Any time we score six points in six minutes that’s not performing.”
The starters gave the Mighty Oaks what was expected with four scoring in double figures, but the bench was particularly effective on this night. And that’s a good sign for the remainder of the season where all the tough games lie and teams will be on the hunt to make a name by knocking off the No. 1 team in the country.
The reserves combined to outscore the Dukes’ bench 39-16, grab half the team’s 50 total rebounds and had 10 assists. Ten of the 11 players who got in the game scored and 10 grabbed at least one rebound.
Nayeem Johnson, getting more comfortable with each game since joining the lineup last week, scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 23 minutes – tied for the second most minutes of any Salem player in the game. One of his buckets was a neat little jumper he shot off-balance while slipping backwards that found nothing but net.
Qua Smith had 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals 16 minutes. Jaiayre Wright had nine points and three offensive rebounds in 15 minutes, and Idris Rines, usually one of the Mighty Oaks’ first players off the bench, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
“I feel our ability goes so deep in the bench we can have our starters come off and have the same production from our bench guys,” Johnson said. “That’s what we expect every night and me being on that second unit I feel like I’m able to produce like the starting lineup.”
“Everybody has time to start, everybody’s got time to play, so I feel like at the end of the day you’ve got to get your minutes when you can and be ready all the time,” Wright said. “I’m ready for any game and every game (Green) puts me.”
Starting point guard Saaid Lee had a team-high 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Zyaire Gibson had 14 points with four more 3-pointers. Jarrell Little and Nasseem Wright had 13 points apiece.
The Dukes’ Jameel Purnell led all scorers with 29 points, 22 in the first half to keep the Dukes in it.
Johnson had a “different schedule” to joining the Mighty Oaks than last year’s midyear acquisitions Akeem Taylor and Jyheim Spencer, the two game-changers who completed the Mighty Oaks’ personnel puzzle, and has been settling into his place in the rotation since becoming eligible.
He had 10 points and seven rebounds in 30 total minutes his two games prior to playing the Dukes.
“Today was better than the first two,” Johnson said. “I think it’s all because I’m still getting adjusted to it. Getting (game) reps is different than getting out in practice. I was so tired that (first game). Today I got my legs back under me a little bit. I’m just getting more adjusted.”
Green has called Johnson a combination of Lee and Little. He knows when the newcomer gets back to form the Mighty Oaks will be even more formidable — regardless if he starts or comes off the bench.
“He’s still trying to find his groove,” Green said. “It’s tough when you join a team that’s undefeated and No. 1 in the nation, but I think he’s turning the corner.
“When you add Nayeem, who would be a star on any team and he’s also a star on ours, that bench is going to be good. We’ve got a really good bench (as it was). When you add Nayeem it just gets that much stronger.”
SALEM CC 99, RCSJ-CUMBERLAND 73
RCSJ-CUMBERLAND (7-9): Jameel Purnell 9-18 10-13 29, Jamaal Davis 7-16 4-6 18, Darell Newton 1-4 0-0 2, Daelan Dickerson 1-10 2-4 4, Vance Brown 1-3 2-3 4, Ahzaeah Woodard 1-3 3-4 5, Levar Price 1-2 0-0 2, Exodus DeJesus 0-1 0-0 0, Zion Ingram-Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Amir Elston 1-4 3-4 5, Jaedyn Greene 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Jack Schuler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-65 24-34 73.
SALEM CC (19-0): Jarrell Little 4-11 3-6 13, Saaid Lee 6-10 0-0 15, Zyaire Gibson 5-11 0-0 14, Nasseem Wright 6-9 1-1 13, Stefan Phillips 2-4 0-0 5, Jahseir Sayles 1-4 0-0 3, Jaiayre Wright 3-4 3-3 9, Qua Smith 4-5 3-3 11, Nayeem Johnson 4-10 4-7 12, Idris Rines 2-4 0-0 4, Michael Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-72 14-20 99.
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 39 | 34- | 73 |
| Salem CC | 52 | 47- | 99 |
3-point goals: RCSJ 1-13 (Purnell 1-3, Davis 0-2, Newton 0-1, Dickerson 0-2, Brown 0-1, Woodard 0-1, DeJesus 0-1, Ingram-Moore 0-1, Elston 0-1); Salem CC 11-31 (Little 2-6, Lee 3-7, Gibson 4-8, Phillips 1-2, Sayles 1-3, Johnson 0-3, Rines 0-2). Rebounds: RCSJ 22 (Purnell 7, Davis 6); Salem CC 50 (Rines 10, Johnson 8). Total fouls: RCSJ 16; Salem CC 25.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Northampton (5) | 9-0 | 15-1 | |
| SALEM CC (1) | 6-0 | 19-0 | 5-0 |
| Union (8) | 11-1 | 14-3 | 10-1 |
| Brookdale | 12-2 | 12-5 | 7-2 |
| Ocean | 9-2 | 11-4 | 7-2 |
| Camden | 7-2 | 10-6 | 6-4 |
| Montgomery (9) | 5-2 | 8-3 | |
| Bergen | 9-7 | 9-10 | 3-7 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 6-6 | 7-9 | 6-6 |
| Atlantic Cape | 5-6 | 6-9 | 4-7 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 3-7 | 7-10 | |
| Sussex | 4-10 | 6-13 | 4-8 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 4-10 | 6-14 | 1-9 |
| Passaic | 3-12 | 3-14 | 3-9 |
| Delaware County | 2-9 | 3-13 | |
| Luzerne | 1-7 | 4-12 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 1-7 | 2-13 | |
| Philadelphia | 1-8 | 6-8 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 99, RCSJ-Cumberland 73
Union 90, Luzerne 59
Sussex 97, Passaic 93
Howard CC 74, Essex 67
Mercer 96, Rockland CC 86
Brookdale 74, Montgomery 72
Ocean 97, RCSJ-Gloucester 76
Lackawanna 81, Thaddeus Stevens 76
Bergen 102, Harrisburg Area 99
Camden 90, Delaware County 49
Northampton 72, Atlantic Cape 67
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Monroe JV at Middlesex
Cecil at Delaware Tech
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem at Northampton
Sussex at Luzerne
Camden at Georgian Court JV
Union at Ocean
Brookdale at RCSJ-Gloucester
Thaddeus Stevens at Albright JV
Orange CC at Morris
Prince George’s at Harcum
RCSJ-Cumberland at Montgomery
Raritan Valley at Monroe
Passaic at Bergen
Essex at Rockland CC
Westchester CC at Mercer
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (4) | 7-0 | 15-1 | |
| Union (11) | 8-1 | 16-2 | 6-0 |
| Mercer (17) | 6-2 | 11-3 | 3-1 |
| Essex | 6-3 | 11-4 | 5-2 |
| Delaware Tech | 4-4 | 5-11 | |
| Raritan Valley | 3-5 | 6-8 | 3-3 |
| Lackawanna | 2-6 | 2-10 | |
| SALEM CC | 1-5 | 2-11 | 0-3 |
| Middlesex | 1-6 | 6-13 | 0-4 |
| Morris | 0-5 | 0-5 | 0-3 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
MONDAY’S GAME
Hagerstown 56, Salem CC 54
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Brookdale 52, Montgomery 50
Northampton 54, Atlantic Cape 44
Essex 67, Howard CC 50
RCSJ-Gloucester 74, Ocean 41
Philadelphia 60, Bergen 46
Union 74, Westchester CC 39
Harcum 121, Morris 29
Mercer at Rockland CC
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Cecil at Delaware Tech
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harcum at Salem
Camden at Northampton
Passaic at Bergen
CCBC Essex at Raritan Valley
Brookdale at RCSJ-Gloucester
RCSJ-Cumberland at Montgomery
Philadelphia at Atlantic Cape
Essex at Rockland CC
Middlesex at Morris
Westchester CC at Mercer
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