Brookdale hands No. 1 Mighty Oaks their first loss of the season, ending 24-game carryover winning streak; Salem CC women routed by No. 3 Harcum
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
LINCROFT – As well as the Salem CC basketball team has played this season and the regularity with which the Mighty Oaks have dispatched their opponents, one would be inclined to think they wouldn’t lose until Hell froze over.
Well, the temperature in the most famous Hell in America — Hell, Michigan — was 4 above Thursday night. It was only slightly warmer in Hell, Norway, where it was 8. Both were well below freezing and the Mighty Oaks did indeed lose.
Top-ranked Salem suffered its first loss of the season, 89-83 at Brookdale. The Mighty Oaks (22-1) were the last undefeated team in the JUCO Division III rankings.
“All is not lost,” Salem coach Mike Green said. “We won 22 games straight. Our guys weathered the storm for 22 games straight. They just couldn’t do it for the 23rd.
“We just didn’t get it done. We played a really good team on their home court that was really good tonight.”
Brookdale (15-6) was particularly good at the start of the second half. It was a one-point game at halftime, but the Jersey Blues opened the second half by scoring on 13 of their first 14 possessions, highlighted by a 20-3 run in which all three Salem points came from the free throw line.
“We lost focus, man,” Green said. “We blew a lot of assignments on defense and when that happens you’ve got the tendency to try to go get it back on offense, so you just compound mistakes. We did that at least seven, eight times the second half … You’ve got to be better.”
The hellish cold crept into the Mighty Oaks’ shooting. While they’ve been hitting at 34 percent for the season, they were just 6-of-29 from 3-point range on this night (21 percent) – their second worst showing of the season. Jarrell Little, their leading scorer and a 38-percent shooter from behind the arc, was just 3-of-16 from the field and 0-for-9 from 3-point range. He had eight points, the first time he’d been held out of double figures this season.
Nasseem Wright was Salem’s leading scorer with 18 points (and 10 rebounds and five assists). Saaid Lee and Nayeem Johnson had 17 points apiece. Johnson also grabbed nine rebounds
The Mighty Oaks (22-1) trailed by 17 with nine minutes to play, but they finally came to life and cut their deficit to three with 3:33 left and had the ball. But they didn’t score again until Johnson’s driving layup with 1:08 to play. By then, the Jersey Blues had rebuilt their lead to 86-77.
“Their backs were against the wall,” Green said of the rally. “This is a resilient group. We had to blow some time outs that let them understand what’s at stake. Our pride was on the line so those guys responded, like they have all year.”
The back-and-forth first half came to a controversial close. Green was hit with a technical foul after the officials ruled Zyaire Gibson’s go-ahead 3-pointer didn’t beat the shot clock. The bucket would have given the Mighty Oaks a 45-42 lead with 33 seconds left in the half. Instead, the points came off the board and the Jersey Blues hit one of the two technical foul shots to take a 43-42 lead at the break.
But that wasn’t the factor that decided the game.
“We were getting our butts kicked,” Green said. “We gave up 40 points (each half).”
The loss ended their 24-game carryover winning streak, going back to their final two games in last year’s national tournament. They had been 14-0 in games away from DuPont Fieldhouse this season.
“You’ve got to live with it,” Green said. “The kids are a little distraught. They’re No. 1, none of these guys have ever been No. 1, never been the talk of the nation in some capacity. But hard work gets you right back in it. All ain’t lost. We’ve got seven more games I believe.”
The Mighty Oaks will look to start another streak Saturday at last-place Luzerne (4-17)
BROOKDALE 89, SALEM CC 83
SALEM CC (22-1): Nasseem Wright 6-12 6-8 18, Saaid Lee 7-11 1-1 17, Nayeem Johnson 6-11 5-8 17, Zyaire Gibson 3-8 0-0 9, Jarrell Little 3-16 2-3 8, Idris Rines 3-8 1-1 8, Stefan Phillips 2-3 2-4 6, Jahseir Sayles 0-2 0-0 0, Jaiayre Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 17-25 83.
BROOKDALE (15-6): Matt Slaby 4-8 0-3 9, Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk 11-18 4-4 28, Evan Weiner 5-9 4-6 15, Keith Allen 7-17 6-10 24, Ariel Perez 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Fulcher 3-4 0-0 6, Emmanuel Miller 1-4 0-0 2, Dream Aikins 0-0 0-0 0, Leonardo Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Kevin Hemans 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 33-64, 15-25 89.
| Salem CC | 42 | 41- | 83 |
| Brookdale | 43 | 46- | 89 |
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Northampton (5) | 11-1 | 19-2 | |
| SALEM CC (1) | 9-1 | 22-1 | 17-1 |
| Union (10) | 14-2 | 18-5 | 13-2 |
| Brookdale | 12-2 | 15-6 | 10-4 |
| Montgomery (8) | 9-2 | 13-3 | |
| Camden | 8-3 | 12-8 | 7-7 |
| Ocean | 10-4 | 13-7 | 9-5 |
| Bergen | 11-7 | 12-10 | 5-9 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-8 | 9-11 | 7-9 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 4-7 | 7-13 | 6-10 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 4-8 | 8-11 | |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 5-11 | 7-16 | 1-12 |
| Harrisburg Area | 3-8 | 4-14 | |
| Sussex | 4-12 | 7-16 | 4-11 |
| Passaic | 3-13 | 4-17 | 3-11 |
| Philadelphia | 2-10 | 8-10 | |
| Delaware County | 2-11 | 3-17 | |
| Luzerne | 1-10 | 4-17 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Brookdale 89, Salem CC 83
Philadelphia 76, Luzerne 60
Raritan Valley 104, Rockland 102
Union 87, RCSJ-Gloucester 58
Atlantic Cape 79, Sussex 78
Essex 108, Bucks 87
Camden 71, Passaic 49
Ocean 81, RCSJ-Cumberland 79
Northampton 96, Mercer 86
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Luzerne
Brookdale at Ocean
Harrisburg Area at Passaic
Montgomery at Thaddeus Stevens
Delaware County at Williamson Trades
Morris at Westchester CC
Philadelphia at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Mercer
Atlantic Cape at RCSJ-Gloucester
Camden at Bergen
Union at Northampton
Harcum at Delaware Tech
Lackawanna at Middlesex
Women’s game
HARCUM 107, SALEM CC 38
HARCUM (19-1): Jaida Helm 2-6 0-0 5, Eternity Aiken 3-4 2-2 8, Alanah Barnhill 3-8 2-2 9, Sofia Vitucci 10-17 2-2 26, Tayla Barros 5-11 0-0 14, Senaya Parker 3-6 2-2 8, KeNiya White 2-3 0-0 4, Alaysia Fernandez 2-5 0-0 4, Kyndall Brewington 7-15 3-3 20, Nyoman Austin 4-11 1-2 9. Totals 41-86 12-13 107.
SALEM CC (3-13): Paula Wilson 3-9 0-2 9, RayNescia King 1-9 0-0 2, Tanijya Shaw 6-17 7-8 21, Kasey Oliver 1-5 2-2 4, Jayda Hunter 0-6 0-0 0, Dani Gustin 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 12-48 9-12 38.
| Harcum | 35 | 25 | 22 | 25- | 107 |
| Salem CC | 10 | 14 | 7 | 7- | 38 |
3-point goals: Harcum 13-36 (Hełm 1-4, Barnhill 1-5, Vitucci 4-8, Barros 4-9, Parker 0-2, White 0-1, Brewington 3-7); Salem CC 5-21 (Wilson 3-8, King 0-3, Shaw 2-8, Oliver 0-1, Hunter 0-1). Rebounds: Harcum 50 (Austin 11); Salem CC 23 (Hunter 5). Total fouls: Harcum 13, Salem CC 11.
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 10-0 | 19-1 | |
| Union (13) | 9-2 | 18-3 | 6-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 7-2 | 15-3 | 3-1 |
| Essex | 6-3 | 14-4 | 4-2 |
| Delaware Tech | 3-6 | 7-13 | |
| Raritan Valley | 2-7 | 6-14 | 2-4 |
| Middlesex | 2-7 | 8-14 | 2-4 |
| SALEM CC | 2-7 | 3-13 | 0-3 |
| Lackawanna | 1-8 | 4-12 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harcum 107, Salem CC 38
RCSJ-Gloucester 63, Montgomery 40
Philadelphia 57, Brookdale 48
Ocean 79, RCSJ-Cumberland 77
Camden 63, Passaic 52
Atlantic Cape 77, Sussex 48
Mercer 93, Northampton 54
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Raritan Valley at Salem CC
Passaic at Northampton
Camden at Bergen
Harcum at Delaware Tech
Essex at Mercer
Philadelphia at RCSJ-Cumberland
Atlantic Cape at RCSJ-Gloucester
Lackawanna at Middlesex
Brookdale at Ocean
Riverview Sports News 