Salem CC men match last year’s win total; women’s program dealing with serious personnel issue that postponed Saturday’s game
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The engine driving this year’s Salem CC basketball team is the desire to clear the lofty bar raised by last year’s national tournament team.
This year’s team can say it’s at least reached the bar after Saturday’s 100-67 win over CC of Philadelphia. By winning, the third-ranked Mighty Oaks (26-1) have matched last season’s win total — in seven fewer games.
“It just adds more fuel to the fire,” freshman Nasseem Wright said. “I always compare us to the last year’s team because they set a real high bar. Coming into the situation I knew we would have to pick up right where they left off.
“They had some unfinished business. They won the regional, but they left nationals and the conference on the table, so this year I wanted to come and get all three. That’s still the goal.”
He’s not the only one who feels that way.
“I feel like we done better than them right now, but we’re not done until we win the national championship,” leading scorer Jarrell Little said. “Once we solidify the national championship, that’s when I feel like we did better than last year’s team.”
“It’s like bragging rights,” added freshman Idris Rines. “We always try to brag and say like we’re better than last year’s team, so just matching their win total with however many games left just means bragging rights.”
This year’s team is ahead of last year’s historic season in so many ways. They are currently statistically better in at least four major categories. Saturday was the 12th time this team has hit the 100-point mark (last year it was four). They are third in JUCO Division III in scoring (95.0), first in field goal percentage and second in assists.
But Mighty Oaks head coach Mike Green would throttle back the enthusiasm just a bit. He’s glad this year’s team has big goals of its own, but right now they’re talking about two different ballgames.
“26-1 don’t raise no banner; you got to win championships, you gotta win games,” he said. “This team is tough, they’re winning games. They’re doing everything they’re supposed to do, I don’t think it’s got nothing to do with last year’s team. Last year’s team was special in its own way. This year is another special year. It’s not complete so it’s hard to measure those two.”
Little and Wright did all they could to make Saturday happen. They both came within one assist of a triple-double. Little had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Wright had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
They would’ve gotten it, too, Green suggested, had the Mighty Oaks not gone through “a five- or six-minute stall” late in the second half. “Every minute counts,” the coach said.
Wright came close to getting his second triple-double of the season. He went on 2-on-1 break with Nayeem Johnson in the closing seconds, passed it over to Johnson for what would have been an easy layup, but instead of taking the shot, Johnson alley-ooped it to Wright for a game-ended slam.
“It definitely feels good to show my versatility on the floor,” Wright said. “Same thing with Jarrell. A lot of people fall in love with the fact he can score, but there is a bunch of other things he can do. That’s what I try to tell him every day. If you use yourself are way more aspects than just scoring that’s what’s going to elevate your game.”
Green said Thursday the team “got Little back” after his leading scorer’s shooting confidence seemed to return in their win over Harrisburg Area. He didn’t think he was even going to play after hurting his shoulder Thursday, but after going 9-for-14 from the floor Saturday – 7-of-9 for 15 points in the second half – Little proclaimed he was “fully back.”
“At halftime MG told me I had seven rebounds,” Little said. “I didn’t know how many assists I had (three) so I was just playing for the double-double. Once we got at the end of the game they told me you need one more assist. I was trying to get it, but it just didn’t happen. The crazy thing is I wasn’t supposed to play today.”
“That’s Jarrell, man,” Green said. “That’s the kid who early in the year was a player of the year candidate. He’s out of his funk it seems and he’s a weapon.”
Three other players scored in double figures. Idris Rines had a career-high 19 in his first college start, Zyaire Gibson had 14 and Johnson had 18 off the bench. Another interesting stat: They had 33 total assists (for 42 buckets) and only 11 turnovers.
Rines and Johnson have been making big contributions off the bench all year. Rines was the natural choice for the start after when Phillips tweaked his knee early in the HACC game and couldn’t go Saturday.
He looked a little uncomfortable early, but quickly settled into his rhythm. He also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“I started in high school so it wasn’t really anything big for me, but I think it just shows the trust MG (Green) has in me so that gave me a boost of confidence,” Rines said. “It meant a lot, starting any game, especially in college, because college nowadays it’s hard to start. It didn’t hit me until like two minutes in and then I’m like this is a regular basketball game.”
Johnson seemed to make a pitch to be the next second unit player to make a start, hitting three 3s in a row in the first half to help the Mighty Oaks take control of the game.
To Green, there’s no difference between the starters and the backups.
“People get caught up on starters and all that,” Green said. “Idris plays starters minutes, that’s what he should be doing with them. We’ve got nine guys who can start on any other team in this region and they know it.”
SALEM CC 100, PHILADELPHIA 67
PHILADELPHIA (11-11): Buster Fallah 6-18 11-18 23, Robert Perry 4-4 2-2 10, Amaury Hunter 1-5 2-2 4, Jaques Aurel Silue 2-5 2-4 7, Sekou Kamara 0-0 0-0 0, Christopher Jones 1-10 0-0 2, Jonathan Miller 7-15 3-4 18, Marques Robinson-Myricks 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 22-59 20-30 67.
SALEM CC (26-1): Jarrell Little 9-14 0-0 20, Saaid Lee 4-10 0-0 9, Zayire Gibson 5-12 1-1 14, Nasseem Wright 6-12 1-1 14, Idris Rines 8-11 2-3 19, Jahseir Sayles 1-4 0-0 2, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Nayeem Johnson 7-14 1-2 18, Mike Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 42-79 5-7 100.
| Philadelphia | 25 | 42- | 67 |
| Salem CC | 44 | 56- | 100 |
3-point goals: Philadelphia 3-17 (Fallah 0-4, Hunter 0-3, Aurel Silue 1-2, Jones 0-3, Miller 1-4, Robinson-Myricks 1-1); Salem CC 11-33 (Little 2-6, Lee 1-3, Gibson 3-10, Wright 1-3, Rines 1-3, Sayles 0-3, Johnson 3-5). Rebounds: Philadelphia 30 (Miller 8, Fallah 6); Salem CC 47 (Little 12, Wright 11). Technical fouls: Wright, Green. Fouled out: Lee. Total fouls: Philadelphia 13, Salem CC 23.
Top photo: Idris Rines (24), Jarrell Little (1) and Nasseem Wright all played big roles in Salem CC’s win over Philadelphia.
Region XIX Standings
| DIVISION III | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| SALEM CC (3) | 13-1 | 26-1 | 18-1 |
| Northampton (10) | 14-2 | 22-3 | |
| Brookdale (RV) | 14-3 | 18-7 | 12-4 |
| Montgomery (8) | 12-3 | 16-4 | |
| Camden | 11-3 | 16-9 | 11-8 |
| Union (9) | 12-4 | 19-7 | 11-3 |
| Bergen | 10-7 | 13-12 | 13-11 |
| Ocean | 8-7 | 13-11 | 9-9 |
| Atlantic Cape | 8-7 | 12-12 | 9-8 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 6-8 | 9-15 | 7-11 |
| RCSJ-Gloucester | 6-9 | 9-18 | 3-15 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | 5-9 | 10-12 | |
| Philadelphia | 4-10 | 11-11 | |
| Harrisburg Area | 4-10 | 5-16 | |
| Delaware County | 3-13 | 5-19 | |
| Sussex | 2-12 | 7-19 | 4-11 |
| Passaic | 2-14 | 4-21 | 3-15 |
| Luzerne | 1-13 | 4-20 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 100, Philadelphia 67
Camden 73, Union 68
Montgomery 70, Bergen 69
Brookdale 87, Luzerne 60
Delaware County 81, Sussex 76
Morris 80, Delaware Tech 77
RCSJ-Cumberland 82, Ocean 77
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
RCSJ-Gloucester 94, Passaic 89 (OT)
Penns State LV at Thaddeus Stevens
Harcum 101, Lackawanna 69
Northampton 75, Atlantic Cape 72 (OT)
Westchester 89, Middlesex 67
Women’s game postponed, issues
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem CC women’s game at Middlesex Saturday was postponed and the remainder of the season in doubt following an incident in Pennsville over the weekend said to involve several players.
Athletics director Bob Hughes confirmed the game’s postponed, citing “a personnel issue” that was “player related,” but declined to give additional details. Pennsville police officials were not immediately available.
Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh said they were working to reschedule the game, but Hughes said any decision to continue the season wouldn’t be entertained until Monday at the earliest.
The Salem women are 3-16 and have four games left. The Mighty Oaks don’t play another region game until Saturday, so another postponement is plausible. They are scheduled to play Morris Club on the road Tuesday.
“We don’t play another region game until next Saturday, so if we had to make a decision for Tuesday it would be an easy one just because it’s already a club game because Morris moved to club,” Hughes said. “That’s the most I can say about it. We will evaluate it on Monday.
“Right now we are day by day with this. We could not play the game today due to a personnel issue.”
The team only has eight players so any incident involving multiple players could leave it without enough players to either be competitive or continue altogether. Injuries forced them reschedule three games earlier this season so they would have enough players available to play.
Region XIX Women’s Standings
| DIVISION II | R19 | ALL | GSAC |
| Harcum (3) | 12-0 | 21-1 | |
| Union (12) | 11-2 | 20-3 | 8-0 |
| Mercer (14) | 10-2 | 18-3 | 5-1 |
| Essex | 7-5 | 15-6 | 4-4 |
| Raritan Valley | 4-7 | 8-15 | 3-4 |
| Delaware Tech | 4-8 | 8-15 | |
| Middlesex | 3-9 | 9-16 | 0-6 |
| SALEM CC | 2-10 | 3-16 | 0-5 |
| Lackawanna | 1-11 | 4-15 | |
| Morris | 0-0 | 0-7 | 0-0 |
Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at Middlesex, ppd.
Philadelphia 61, Camden 48
RCSJ-Gloucester 59, Passaic 49
Northampton 77, Atlantic Cape 62
Ocean at RCSJ-Cumberland
Essex at Orange County
Mercer at Raritan Valley
Bergen at Montgomery
Harcum 106, Lackawanna 34
Riverview Sports News 