No. 1 Salem CC uses big second half to turn back challenge from No. 5 Northampton, makes it 20-0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Salem CC freshman Nasseem Wright has a unique way of describing the way the Mighty Oaks have been able to turn it on in the second half to win basketball games and become the No. 1 team in the nation this year.

Leaning against the locker room wall after another second half surge carried them to victory he simply said, “They always say after the rain and thunder, the sun comes out. We weather the storm good. The second half we came out and I feel like the sun was out. We figured those guys out and we ended up getting them.”

The top-ranked Mighty Oaks were locked in an expectedly tight battle in the first half at No. 5 Northampton Thursday night, but the sun shined brightly on them in the second half and propelled them to a 99-84 win over the Spartans to stand alone atop the Region XIX Division III standings.

It was their 20th win of the season and 14th away from the Dupont Fieldhouse. The Mighty Oaks (20-0) are one of only seven undefeated teams in the JUCO basketball world and the only one in the Division III poll.

“These guys answered the bell,” coach Mike Green said. “We’re a tough team, a really good team. We’ve got players who dig in. These guys are answering the bell. Every tough one they’ve answered the call. It’s been a pleasure thus far.”

The Mighty Oaks outscored their hosts 56-45 in the second half. They shot better than or equal to their first half percentages in all three shooting aspects of the game and had more rebounds, assists and steals in the second half. They ended up leading by as many as 17.

They’ve only been down at halftime twice this season — Atlantic Cape in the opener and Union in the first game back from the break — but they outscored both teams in the second half by double digits. They’ve been outscored in the second half only three times (Penn Highlands, Essex and Camden) and never by more than two points.

Since they’ve come back from the holiday break they’ve outscored their four opponents in the second half by an average of 11.25 points after trailing by 4 and leading by 1, 13 and 4.

“The first half, a lot of time, we respect our opponent so much that we give them too much respect sometimes,” Wright said. “The first half we’re trying to see what they want to get to. We scout them before the game, for sure, but it’s kind of different when you get into the game. Once we came out the second half we got them figured out.”

“We carried them with us in the first half; like, we always start off slow in the first half,” Jerrell Little said. “i think once we clean up the first half I don’t think no team in the nation can beat us at all.”

That second-half sun shined brightest on Wright and Jerrell Little. The Mighty Oaks’ two leading scorers had only four points combined in the first half. Wright was 0-for-5 from the floor and had just one point at halftime, but he went 5-for-6 in the second half and poured in 14 points. Little had 11 in the second half to finish with 14.

“I was in my head,” Wright said. “Yesterday was one of my best friend’s death anniversary so I was kind of in my head the first half, like this ain’t my day. Coming into the half I just locked in mentally, going inside-out and just remembering it’s just basketball, so the second half I came out with more energy.”

The difference in Little’s halves, he said, was “Mike Green getting in my head about me not shooting the ball. I didn’t take any bad shots, but I didn’t take no shots at all, that’s what he was saying. So the second half I turned it on, started listening to him and got my shots up.”

In all, seven Salem players scored in double figures, including all five starters. Saaid Lee, who didn’t mind saying the Mighty Oaks could go undefeated this year, led all scorers with 20 points.

It really was anybody’s game at halftime. The game was tied nine times and had 13 lead changes in the first half. The Mighty Oaks broke the final tie (39-39) with four free throws in the final 37 seconds to take a 43-39 lead into the break and never lost the lead.

While they were waiting for their two top scorers to come around, Stefan Phillips, Nayeem Johnson and Idris Rines were keeping them in it in the first half. Phillips and Rines combined for 13 points from basically the same position, while Johnson had eight.

That didn’t surprise Wright.

“We recruit a bunch of guys that can go and can hold that weight,” he said, “so if me and Jarrell are slacking we got guys who can pick it up until our time comes.”

And because of that those guys’ time might increase in the near future.

“I was deciding their minutes among four people, that might have to stop,” Green said. “I might have to let those guys get more rhythm. We’ll figure it out. Everybody deserves a chance, but those guys who gave like this one will play a little longer.”

ACORNS: There were 51 fouls called in the game, including two techs on the Mighty Oaks. That led to 82 free throws. Salem was 27-of-35 from the line, Northampton 30-of-47 … The Mighty Oaks’ success is getting noticed around South Jersey. New Salem CC football coach Jay Accorsi reports coaches he meets on the recruiting visits often remark on how well the Mighty Oaks are playing. He said one, Willingboro’s Kenny Scott, even mentioned remembering Green when they were in school together at Towson … Some of the players might be thinking about an undefeated season, but Green says it’s a little too early to be thinking like that. “Yeah, it’s only January,” he said. “We’ve got to play February yet. There are some good teams coming up. The thing is we’re getting everybody’s best shot. They’re not the normal team, they’re not the 0-7 team, the 4-9 team. Against us they’re good, they come to play.”

SALEM CC 99, NORTHAMPTON 84
SALEM CC (20-0): Jarrell Little 4-14 5-5 14, Saaid Lee 6-12 7-8 20, Zyaire Gibson 3-5 1-4 10, Nasseem Wright 5-11 5-6 15, Stefan Phillips 5-8 1-2 13, Jahseir Sayles 1-5 0-0 3, Qua Smith 1-1 0-2 2, Nayeem Johnson 3-10 5-7 12, Idris Rines 3-6 3-3 10. Totals 31-72 27-35 99.
NORTHAMPTON (15-2): Terrence Cobb 2-13 3-3 7, Kevin Rucker 6-17 5-7 19, Jahad Marable 6-10 5-10 17, Mehki Shillingford 0-7 7-10 7, Aiden Brown 6-12 5-9 17, Sihaaj Johnson 0-1 1-2 1, Sebastian Fermin 2-3 0-0 6, Julian Bair 0-1 0-0 0, Anniel Pichardo 0-0 0-0 0, Ermil Fleurinvil 0-0 1-2 1, Lamaj Mapp 3-5 3-4 9. Totals 25-69 30-47 84.

Salem CC	43	56-	99
Northampton	39	45-	84

3-point goals: Salem CC 10-26 (Little 1-3, Lee 1-3, Gibson 3-5, Phillips 2-3, Sayles 1-5, Johnson 1-4, Rines 1-3); Northampton 4-19 (Cobb 0-6, Rucker 2-8, Marable 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Fermin 2-3). Rebounds: Salem CC 53 (Johnson 9, Lee 8, Wright 8); Northampton 46 (Marable 11, Brown 10). Technical fouls: Salem CC team (dunking in warmups), Lee. Fouled out: Phillips, Rines. Total fouls: Salem CC 29, Northampton 22.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
SALEM CC (1)	7-0	20-0	15-0
Union (8)	12-1	15-3	11-2
Northampton (5)	9-1	15-2
Brookdale	13-2	13-5	8-3
Camden	7-2	10-6	6-5
Ocean	9-3	11-5	7-4
Montgomery (9)	6-2	9-3
Bergen	10-7	10-10	3-9
RCSJ-Cumberland	6-7	7-10	6-7
Atlantic Cape	5-6	6-9	4-7
Thaddeus Stevens	3-7	6-10
Sussex	4-10	7-13	4-9
RCSJ-Gloucester	4-11	6-15	1-11
Passaic	3-13	3-15	3-10
Delaware County	2-9	3-13
Luzerne	1-7	4-13
Harrisburg Area	1-7	2-13
Philadelphia	1-8	6-8

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem 99, Northampton 84
Sussex 79, Luzerne 77
Camden at Georgian Court JV
Union 80, Ocean 76
Brookdale 85, RCSJ-Gloucester 78
Thaddeus Stevens at Albright JV
Orange CC 87, Morris 83
Prince George’s at Harcum
Montgomery 98, RCSJ-Cumberland 59
Monroe 94, Raritan Valley 64
Bergen 95, Passaic 74
Rockland CC 101, Essex 73
Mercer 69, Westchester CC 62

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	12-3	3-1
Essex	6-3	11-4	5-2
Delaware Tech	4-4	6-11
Raritan Valley	3-5	6-9	3-3
Lackawanna	2-6	2-10
SALEM CC	1-5	2-11	0-3
Middlesex	1-6	6-13	0-4
Morris	0-6	0-6	0-3

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harcum at Salem, ppd.
Northampton 58, Camden 43
Passaic 74, Bergen 42
CCBC Essex 92, Raritan Valley 53
RCSJ-Gloucester 82, Brookdale 46
RCSJ-Cumberland at Montgomery
Atlantic Cape 66, Philadelphia 57
Essex at Rockland CC
Middlesex at Morris
Mercer 101, Westchester CC 27

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

Top-ranked Mighty Oaks overcome slow start to stay undefeated; women fall under a barrage of 3s

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SEWELL – For the better part of the first half Saturday it looked like this was going to be it, the day somebody finally gets the Salem CC basketball team and hands the Mighty Oaks their first loss of the season.

RCSJ-Gloucester came out hitting shots and the Mighty Oaks came out, well, not. The top-ranked team in the land was down 13 eight minutes into the game and again at the 10-minute mark of the first half.

At that point Salem coach Mike Green had seen enough to know he had seen too much. He called a 30-second timeout to tell his team to get on the stick, and they responded.

They clawed back into it and actually built a six-point lead before going into the break up by one. They never lost the lead in the second half and eventually pulled away from the Roadrunners 96-84 to hold onto all the good things they have built to this point in the season.

“I think this was the first time this year we took somebody a little lightly,” Green said. “I told them their coaches were really good, they’re players we really good. They ain’t got nothing to lose. They’re coming to play against the No. 1 team, so you’ve got to be locked in. I don’t think we were locked in to start the game.

“It gets like that when you’re complacent. You’re 17-0, you’re No. 1 in the country, sometimes you ain’t fired up. But we woke up pretty quick. They got fired up some really quickly after that.”

It was easy to see how that could have happened. The Mighty Oaks (18-0) were coming off a win over No. 7 Union that was the biggest threat to their undefeated record to date, they were winning games by an average of 20 points a game, and they beat Saturday’s hosts by 28 in their first meeting in December.

But the Roadrunners (6-13) had different ideas. They ran out to leads of 22-9 and 28-15 in the first 10 minutes by using tenacious defense that forced Salem at one point into eight straight empty possessions and sharp 3-point shooting.

They were 7-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half. They hit their first three 3s in a 15-2 run that produced the 22-9 lead. Two more 3s – one by former Salem High standout Jabez DeJesus – pushed it 28-15 with about 10 minutes left in the half. That’s when Green called time to reset the mindset.

“We definitely came out a little slow; we definitely looked over them a little bit,” gunner Zyaire Gibson said. “It’s hard to win, win, win and keep the same mentality all the time, but our coach does a great job of keeping us together and playing hard. After he called the time out, he talked to us and made sure everybody knew what they were supposed to do and we went out and figured it out.”

The Mighty Oaks (18-0) got back in it by doing what the Roadrunners were doing to them early in the game. They came out of the timeout, turned up the defensive intensity and promptly went on a 15-0 run to take the lead.

“Since we beat them by 30 the first time we came here thinking as a team they were going to lay down, but they didn’t,” Jerrell Little said. “It’s probably the first or second time we’ve taken a team lightly; maybe the first game of the season too we took them lightly.

“Our coach always says we’re the No. 1 team in  the nation so we’re gonna get everybody’s best game and especially being at home we’re going to get double people’s best game. We came in (complacent) a little bit, but at least we picked it up, got the win. But now we know, like people are hunting. We just have to be the hunters next time.”

Gibson played one of the biggest roles in keeping the Mighty Oaks out front. He hit five of his career-high six 3-pointers in a 21-point second half and finished the game with a career-high 26. He opened the second half with a 3 and a layup to extend the lead, then drained four 3s in a row from both corners in a personal 16-point run over the final five minutes to ice the game.

He was 9-of-18 from the floor overall, 6-of-15 from 3-point range. His previous high for 3s was five against Bergen in the home opener and at Ocean.

“They got a real soft rim; it makes it a little easier to shoot,” he said. “At the home gym we’re shooting every day, it’s kind of routine. Here it took me a little while to get in the groove, but I figured it out.”

ACORNS: Gibson (top photo) was one of four Mighty Oaks scoring in double figures. Saaid Lee had 17 points, nine assists and four steals. Nasseem Wright had 16 points and Little 15 …. Wright and Idris Rines combined for five blocked shots that all seemed to come at crucial points in the game … Ace Lassiter led RCSJ with 24 points, but the Mighty Oaks held him to six in the second half. 

SALEM CC 96, RCSJ-GLOUCESTER 84
SALEM CC (18-0): Zyaire Gibson 9-18 2-2 26, Saaid Lee 7-11 2-3 17, Nasseem Wright 6-9 4-6 16, Jarrell Little 6-14 0-0 15, Stefan Phillips 2-3 1-2 5, Idris Rines 2-4 1-1 5, Nayeem Johnson 1-5 2-2 4, Qua Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Jaiayre Wright 2-3 0-2 4, Jahseir Sayles 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 37-71 12-18 96.
RCSJ-GLOUCESTER (6-13): Nasir Williamsbey 5 2-2 13, Ace Lassiter 7 7-9 24, Julian Johnson 2 0-0 6, Amara Secho 1 0-0 2, Hajir Davis 8 6-7 23, Aiden Cramner 3 1-2 7, Jabez DeJesus 3 2-2 9. Totals 29 18-22 84.

Salem CC	44	52–	96
RCSJ-Gloucester	43	41–	84

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
SALEM CC (1)	12-0	18-0	11-0
Northampton (5)	9-0	14-1
Union (7)	10-2	13-3	10-2
Montgomery (9)	5-1	8-2
Ocean	9-2	10-4	6-3
Brookdale	11-3	11-5	7-3
Camden	6-3	9-6	6-5
RCSJ-Cumberland	6-5	7-8	6-6
Bergen	7-8	8-10	3-7
Atlantic Cape	5-7	6-8	4-7
Thaddeus Stevens	3-5	6-9
RCSJ-Gloucester	4-11	6-13	1-7
Sussex	3-11	5-13	3-9
Delaware County	2-8	3-12
Passaic	3-12	3-13	3-9
Luzerne	1-6	4-11
Harrisburg Area	1-6	2-12
Philadelphia	1-8	6-8

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 96, RCSJ-Gloucester 84
Montgomery 95, Harrisburg Area 86
Ocean 95, Thaddeus Stevens 86
Chesapeake 91, Raritan Valley 67
Delaware County at Luzerne
Union 67, Atlantic Cape 53
Mercer 71, Montgomery (Md.) 69
Bergen 77, RCSJ-Cumberland 68
Northampton 90, Sussex 70
Morris 76, Delaware Tech 72
Essex 72, Camden 63
Middlesex 142, Kingsborough 66

Women’s game

SEWELL – Story posting soon.

SEWELL – Salem CC women’s coach Brian Marsh knew how good a player RCSJ-Gloucester’s Shannon Pierman was from the way he recruited her out of Woodstown High School and one of the focuses for his team Saturday was to limit her effectiveness inside as much as possible.

But the Roadrunners found a way around those plans. They killed it from the outside.

They hit 12 3-pointers and shot down the Mighty Oaks 71-54. 

The Roadrunners, No. 15 in JUCO Division III, hit 10 3-pointers in the first half to open a 45-23 lead. Anna DiPiero hit six of her seven 3s in the first half — five in the second quarter. Alaina LaMonica hit three in half and Hadley Rodriguez had the other.

DiPiero and LaMonica both finished with 21 points. Pierman, the team’s overall leading scorer and rebounder, had 13.

“Our goal was to stop Shannon, and then No. 22 (DiPiero) went, what, 7-for-8 from 3-point land in the first half,” Marsh said. “They shot 80 percent as a team from 3-point land in the first half and that’s really hard to come back from. We tried, it’s just I think our defense wasn’t there today.

“I tell the girls Salem basketball is defense and rebounding and we’re going to get our offense out of that. It’s just one of the things we’ve got to keep working.”

The Mighty Oaks (2-10) did get it back to 14 with two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, but got no closer.

RayNescia King led Salem with 14 points. Tanijya Shaw had 12. King had 10 of her points in the second half and Shaw had eight.

“I thought they played hard, but I just don’t think were consistent enough and I think that’s showing in our record,” Marsh said. “Minute by minute, quarter by quarter, there’s just some inconsistencies.

“I thought we played really well the last four games even though there are a couple losses there. Against Monroe I thought we played really well and just today it kind of seems we regressed a little bit.”

RCSJ-GLOUCESTER 71, SALEM CC 54
SALEM CC (2-10) – RayNescia King 5 1-6 14, Tanijya Shaw 6 0-0 12, Kasey Oliver 2 2-3 6, Paula Wilson 2 0-0 5, Ameriyona Hunter 1 0-0 3, Dani Gustin 1 3-4 6, Justine Cardona 4 0-0 9, Jayda Hunter 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-13 54.
RCSJ-GLOUCESTER (11-3) – Anna DiPiero 7 0-1 21, Alaina LaMonica 7 3-3 21, Emma Buttocovia 3 1-2 7, Vienna Gantz 0 0-0 0, Brenna Ivey 0 0-0 0, Hadley Rodriguez 1 0-0 3, Shannon Pierman 5 3-6 13, Tinu Bamgbose 1 1-2 3, Savannah Shute 1 1-2 3. Totals 25 9-16 71.

Salem CC	7	16	15	16-	54
RCSJ-Gloucester	17	28	10	16-	71

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Harcum (5)	6-0	14-1
Union (7)	8-1	14-3	6-0
Mercer (18)	6-2	10-3	3-1
Essex	6-3	10-4	5-2
Delaware Tech	4-4	5-11
Raritan Valley	3-5	6-8	3-3
Lackawanna	2-6	2-9
SALEM CC	1-5	2-10	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

SATURDAY’S GAMES
RCSJ-Gloucester 71, Salem CC 54
Bergen at RCSJ-Cumberland
Delaware Tech 94, Morris 46
Northampton 72, Sussex 43
Essex 86, Camden 55
Mercer 102, Montgomery (Md.) 44
Cecil 77, Middlesex 55

Salem CC returns to the court; No. 1 men put away No. 7 Union in biggest challenge to their top billing to date; cold fourth-quarter shooting ruins women’s upset bid of No. 5 Monroe-Bronx

MENS BASKETBALL
Salem CC 74, Union 68
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Monroe-Bronx 51, Salem 46

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – It’s been 18 days since the Salem CC men’s basketball team last played a game and when the Mighty Oaks returned to the floor Tuesday it had to come against the biggest threat to their undefeated record and No. 1 ranking this season.

It’s a new calendar year and the schedule will get infinitely harder from here on out, but the Mighty Oaks got through the first one all right, putting down No. 7 Union College of New Jersey, 74-68.

It’s been so long since this team of mostly first-year college players have played it literally felt like the first time. They had to get used to being back on the floor together and the flow and rhythm of the game again, but they eventually did — just like they’ve always done this season.

“We just had to adjust to the game,” guard Saaid Lee said. “Throughout the game I was just thinking back to our first game of the season. This is exactly like that. You just had to adjust and just get the jitters out. First game of the semester.

“It took a while (to get adjusted), I’m not gonna lie. But once it clicked, it clicked. We were cool.”

Just like in the opener at Atlantic Cape the Mighty Oaks (17-0) fell behind at the outset, and just like in the opener they came to life in the second half to win.

They trailed the team they beat in the third round of last year’s national tournament by 13 in the first half and battled back to within four at halftime. They fell back by nine at the start of the second half, then found their game and did what they’ve always done this season to get a lead.

The game turned for them during a crazy 22-second stretch midway through the half. It started with Zyaire Gibson blocking a shot and Nasseem Wright converting it into a three-point play at the other end to give them the lead for the first time since 5-1 with 8:52 to play. They never lost it.

The next trip Lee picked Kanye Brown’s pocket at midcourt and was fouled driving to the basket. He hit both free throws to make it 52-48.

The Mighty Oaks nearly forced a turnover on the next possession. On the ensuing inbounds play, Idris Rines knocked a ball that appeared to be kicked free and was fouled in the scramble. It was Union guard Tareak Williams’ fifth foul, which set off Owls coach Devon Stansbury and earned him a technical.

Lee made one of the two tech shots and Rines hit both of his free throws. The Mighty Oaks who had trailed by one with nine minutes left were now up seven with 8:30 left.

“I just remember before it I huddled my team and told them we get three stops in a row and the game was ours,” Lee said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

“We knew we were going to go on a run soon,” Wright said. “Going into the half their two best players didn’t come out of the game so we knew they were tired. Once we put a little more pressure on their guards and made them get out and made the other people score I felt like that’s when the dominoes would start falling.”

They still had some work to do, however. The Owls made it 59-57 with 5:26 to play, then Jarrell Little and Rines wrapped 3-pointers around a UCNJ free throw and the Mighty Oaks were back up seven with 3:27 to go.

“It’s been that way all year for us,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “A couple games we were down and had to fight back. This wasn’t any different. This is one of the better teams. We knew it was going to be a war coming in. 

“That’s what we do. If we’re behind ,we do what we do, we get back to where we need to be and we’re really good with the lead, really good with the lead. But we showed them this year we can play from behind and grind the game out.”

One of the things the Mighty Oaks did do to maintain the lead was make their free throws. In the six minutes after Wright’s go-ahead three-point play, they were 12-of-13 from the line. They were 19-of-21 in the half and 21-of-29 in the game.

“That’s one thing we’re keying on, even in practice we shoot a lot of free throws,” Wright said. “And at game speed as well. We’ll be running up and down at practice and then we’ll shoot free throws and if we miss we’ve got to run again. So we condition for those late-game moments. Two, three minutes left in the game, we need the free throws, we’re all tired, but we’re able to go to the line and knock them down.”

The Mighty Oaks placed five scorers in double figures. Wright bounced back from a tough first half to score a team-high 16 points. Rines had 13 (11 in the second half), Little 12, and Lee and Gibson 11 apiece. Union’s Jake Zawacki led all scorers with 24 points.

Just like his team, it took Wright a little while to get back in the swing of things. He had four points and four turnovers in the first half, but after the break he hit 3-of-4 shots, got to the foul line more, scored 12 points and had only one turnover.

“Once I realized how physical it was, going into the second half I knew what I had to do coming out,” Wright said. “Going into the half my coaches were telling me not to bail them out, not to get caught up in all that other stuff, just play my own game and coming out the second half that’s what I did.”

SALEM CC 74, UNION 68
SALEM CC (17-0): Jarrell Little 3-6 5-9 12, Saaid Lee 3-7 5-6 11, Zyaire Gibson 4-10 0-0 11, Nasseem Wright 5-11 6-9 16, Stefan Phillips 1-2 1-1 3, Jahseir Sayles 0-1 0-0 0, Qua Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Nayeem Johnson 3-10 0-0 6, Idris Rines 4-10 4-4 13. Totals 24-59 21-29 74.
UNION (11-3): Tareak Williams 1-6 1-2 3, Craig West 1-3 0-0 2, Nicolas Acosta 8-22 3-5 19, Kanye Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremiah Saint Jean 2-10 1-2 5, Anthony Hicks 1-7 2-5 4, Aljanai Best 2-4 0-0 4, Nasir Calloway 3-6 0-0 7, Jake Zawacki 9-18 2-2 24. Totals 27-77 9-16 68.

Salem CC	29	45–	74
Union	33	35–	68

3-point goals: Salem CC 5-18 (Little 1-2, Lee 0-1, Gibson 3-7, Wright 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Rines 1-5); UCNJ 5-15 (Williams 0-1, West 0-1, Hicks 0-2, Best 0-1, Calloway 1-1, Zawacki 4-9). Rebounds: Salem CC 40 (Lee 7, Little 6, Wright 6); UCNJ 45 (Acosta 14, Saint Jean 12). Technical fouls: Saint Jean, Union coach Stansbury, Rines, Salem CC coach Green. Fouled out: Williams, Saint Jean. Total fouls: Salem CC 24, UCNJ 17.

Region XIX Standings

DIVISION III	R19	ALL	GSAC
SALEM CC (1)	11-0	17-0	11-0
Northampton (5)	8-0	13-1
Union (7)	8-2	11-3	8-2
Ocean	8-2	8-4	5-3
Montgomery (9)	4-1	7-2
Brookdale	11-3	11-5	7-3
Camden	6-3	9-5	6-4
RCSJ-Cumberland	6-4	6-7	5-5
Thaddeus Stevens	3-4	6-7
Bergen	6-8	7-9	2-6
Atlantic Cape	4-6	5-7	3-6
RCSJ-Gloucester	4-10	5-11	1-6
Sussex	3-9	5-11	3-8
Passaic	3-11	3-12	3-8
Delaware County	2-8	3-12
Harrisburg Area	1-5	2-10
Luzerne	1-6	4-11
Philadelphia	1-8	6-8

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division III national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 74, Union 68
Miseracordia JV 83, Luzerne 76
Raritan Valley 74, Manhattan CC 69
Orange CC at Middlesex
Howard CC 82, Delaware Tech 59
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Harrisburg Area at Chesapeake
THURSDAY’S GAME
Union at Sussex
Harcum at CCBC Dundalk
Thaddeus Stevens at Miseracordia JV
Bergen at Ocean
Passaic at Atlantic Cape
FRIDAY’S GAME
Penn State DuBois at Lackawanna
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC at RCSJ-Gloucester
Harrisburg Area at Montgomery
Ocean at Thaddeus Stevens
Raritan Valley at Chesapeake
Delaware at Luzerne
Union at Atlantic Cape
Montgomery (Md.) at Mercer
Bergen at RCSJ-Cumberland
Northampton at Sussex
Morris at Delaware Tech
Camden at Essex
Kingsborough at Middlesex

Women ‘played well, but …’

CARNEYS POINT – The Salem CC women gave the fifth-ranked team in Division III all it could handle, but they went cold from the floor in the fourth quarter and fell to Monroe-Bronx 51-46.

The Mighty Oaks (2-9) made just one of 19 shots in the fourth quarter. They led 46-45 with 6:45 to play, then didn’t score again. The Express (14-1) didn’t shoot it great either in the fourth quarter, but found the bucket enough to earn their seventh straight victory.

“I thought we did what we were supposed to do on defense, but when we needed a basket we just didn’t get it,” Salem coach Brian Marsh said. “The players played hard.”

The cold fourth quarter dropped the Mighty Oaks to 32 percent shooting for the game (19-for-60). They also were just 5-of-15 from the free throw line. The Express shot an even worse percentage (18-for-66), but made six 3-pointers and nine free throws.

Monroe led early on by 10, but the game was close throughout. There were six lead changes and nine ties.

The teams fought to a 13-13 tie in the first quarter with Salem’s Justine Cardona beating the buzzer with a layup to get it even. It was a two-point game at halftime and a one-point game going into the fourth quarter.

It was Cardona’s two free throws that gave the Mighty Oaks the lead in the fourth quarter.

Cardona led the Mighty Oaks with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Tanijya Shaw had 10 points and Dani Gustin had eight points and eight rebounds.

“I told the players I’m getting tired of ‘we played well but…’ games,” Marsh said. “We’ve got to finish games and we’ve got to win games. We’ve shown people, especially our last four games, what we’re doing. I think this is the team that we are and they’re starting to come together.”

MONROE-BRONX 51, SALEM CC 46
MONROE-BRONX (14-1) – Jaeda Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Beverly Williams 4-20 3-8 13, Aniyah McLamb 6-12 2-4 14, Salimah Williams 5-19 2-4 15, D Stephenson 0-2 0-0 0, Jhency Pabon 0-0 0-0 0, Lea Tavarez 1-7 0-0 3, Tyra Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Jazmyne Rios 2-5 2-4 6, Aviah Richards 0-0 0-0 0, Sade Gibbs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-66 9-20 51.
SALEM CC (2-9) – RayNescia King 1-9 0-2 2, Tanijya Shaw 5-17 0-0 10, Dani Gustin 4-6 0-4 8, Paula Wilson 2-4 0-0 6, Jayda Hunter 0-6 1-2 1, Justine Cardona 6-15 4-7 17, Kasey Oliver 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-60 5-15 46.

Monroe-Bronx	13	20	10	8-	51
Salem CC	13	18	11	4-	46

3-point goals: Monroe 6-36 (B. Williams 2-11, S. Williams 3-14, Tavarez 1-7, T. Williams 0-1, Rios 0-3); Salem CC 3-12 (King 0-3, Shaw 0-1, Wilson 2-4, Hunter 0-1, Cardona 1-3). Rebounds: Monroe 42 (T. Williams 8, Rios 8); Salem CC 43 (Cardona 10, King 9, Gustin 8). Technical fouls: Monroe coach Ling, Salem CC bench. Total fouls: Monroe 15, Salem CC 18.

Region XIX Women’s Standings

DIVISION II	R19	ALL	GSAC
Harcum (5)	6-0	14-1
Union (7)	8-1	14-1	6-0
Mercer (18)	6-2	10-3	3-1
Essex	6-3	9-4	4-2
Delaware Tech	3-4	4-11
Raritan Valley	3-5	6-8	3-3
Lackawanna	2-6	2-9
SALEM CC	1-5	2-9	0-3
Middlesex	1-6	6-12	0-4
Morris	0-4	0-4	0-3

Number in parenthesis is JUCO Division II national ranking

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Monroe-Bronx 51, Salem CC 46
Howard CC 72, Delaware Tech 67
Sussex 77, RCSJ-Cumberland 50
Montgomery at Bergen
Middlesex 92, Orange CC 43
Union at Monroe
THURSDAY’S GAMES
RCSJ-Cumberland at RCSJ-Gloucester
Passaic at Atlantic Cape
Bergen at Ocean
Sussex at Delaware County
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Salem at RCSJ-Gloucester
Bergen at RCSJ-Cumberland
Morris at Delaware Tech
Northampton at Sussex
Camden at Essex
Montgomery (Md.) at Mercer
Cecil at Middlesex