MBB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[irapthor]

Programming Note #2:

Both NJCU men's game in the Albright Tournament will be broadcast at www.njcugothicknights.com on Friday (6 pm) and Saturday (2/4).

[Truck]

I saw the the Ramapo/Rutgers-Newark game in Mahwah, where Ramapo escaped with a 91-90 victory.

Ramapo was fantastic to start the game - getting an early 17 point lead. They executed well on offense and played good defensively. They looked like a team that left me wondering how they went 1-2 in their recent tournament in AZ. Beanie was great, coming up with key baskets whenever Ramapo needed to score. He finished with 13 at the half. Everthing was clicking. As for R-N, they did not look like a team with 10 wins and leading the Northern Conference.

Towards the end of the first half, Ramapo started to lose their lead, as Chadd Barnes began to sink threes in front of Ramapo's bench to keep R-N in the game. The lead went down to 9 a few times and Ramapo went into halftime up by 10, by a score of 50-40.

Ramapo came out with just 3 min left in halftime and their execution went downhill from there with sloppy play and miscommunication on the floor. R-N also started playing well to close the gap. Barns put the team on his back with his threes. At around the 11 min mark, R-N got the deficit down to 1, but Ramapo would manage to come up with a key basket to always stay ahead. At 8:59 left in the game, R-N scored to take the lead since the opening minutes of the game.

When it seemed that Ramapo would initianlly run R-N out of the gym, we now had a game that was too close for comfort. The teams would continue to swap baskets for the rest of the game. In the closing seconds, with the game tied, R-N scored to take a two point lead. Ramapo brought the ball up and Assad Shaakir rolled out in front of the Ramapo bench, received the pass and sunk a three pointer with 4 seconds left to take a one point lead. With no timeouts remaining for R-N, the inbound pass was thrown out of bounds. Ramapo passed the ball into Omar who got fouled. He missed both free throws and R-N had a last second chance to win. A hail-mary throw from beyond the half court line clanked off the front rim, and Ramapo came away with a 91-90 victory.

Chadd Barns played great for R-N, putting the team on his back and leading the comeback. His timely shots brought the team back, starting in the latter minutes of the first half. He finished with 30 pts.

For Ramapo, Beanie led the scoring. He was absolutely fantastic throughout, battling an injury. He was on one end of the court, receiving treatment from the trainer, and in the last few seconds, he had difficulty walking. Omar was strong in the middle, finishing with 12. Shakir had a great game throughout, getting timely rebounds inside. He finished with 17. Shawn Frost was also strong on the boards.

Ramapo won the first half 50-40, while R-N won the second half, 50-41, giving Ramapo a 91-90 victory.

Some random notes:

*There were a large number of fans in attendance, especially with no spring semester for students.

*Ramapo had 6 guys in double figures, Shakir the only bench player to score in double figures. The rest of the bench contributed basically nothing.

*Beanie was exhausted at times, playing a game high 36 minutes. As Ramapo's best player, Chuck counts on him to get the offense flowing and he needs him on the court, especially with a close game.

*Barnes was 6-11 from three point range.

[Truck]

Ramapo met William Patterson at the Rec Center on Saturday night for a rematch of last years NJAC Championship Game. It was a close one that went down to the buzzer, but just like on Wednesday, Ramapo came away with a 72-69 victory.

The atmosphere in the first half was typical of any NJAC Championship game. The play on the court went back and forth as the teams traded baskets. Omar Alston did not get the start and whenever he was received position early on, it seemed that he would turn the ball over. He had about 4 or 5 turnovers in the early going in the first half. On that note, during the pregame warm-ups, Omar drained 5 straight three point shots from a foot outside the line. Very impressive. (I'm actually thinking of starting an Omar Alston fan club). After he settled down, he provided big points. He's a big man, but has a very soft touch when he shoots. He was able to establish position down low, get the ball and make the shots either on the blocks or by popping up to the free throw line and draining the J.

Ramapo, for the life of them, could not get a defensive rebound. The stats and recap are unavailable as I write this, but RCNJ got killed on the boards. As the first half went into the closing minute, Ramapo had a 10 point lead with WPU with possession. For Ramapo, if they get a stop and a score, they could go up 12 – a pretty big lead – into the half. However, they gave up 2 points on WPU's possession, then came back down with the ball and turned it over with sloppy dribbling. WPU regained possession and their player was fouled. After 2 missed free throws, somebody for RCNJ forgot their rebounding assignment and WPU got the offensive board with 0.7 on the clock to tip the ball in and cut the Ramapo lead to 37-31 to go into halftime.

The meltdown continued into the second half with the team playing the exact opposite of what Chuck would like to see. Very sloppy and lethargic. Turnovers and again, no defensive rebounds. WPU was able to come back and snatch the lead. In the first 4 minutes of the second half, Ramapo scored only 2 points, an offensive rebound and tip in by Tim Wesley off of 2 missed free throws. It again seemed to appear that Ramapo could not hold on to leads.

As the second half progressed, the atmosphere in the building became electric, having the makings and environment of a real championship duel. Rob Anderson was getting the RCNJ fans animated and pumped up to counter the home crowd. Tim Wesley's bucket gave Ramapo the lead back and they would do a good job maintaining it.

Ramapo was up 3 points with seconds remaining. The ball handler got fouled, missed the free throws, giving WPU a last chance. The heave from around center court missed and Ramapo was able to hold on to a 3 point win.

I came away very impressed with Ramapo's play down the stretch. They did give up the lead and played horrible for the first 5 minutes of the second half. However, they were able to clamp down and play good basketball. Beanie did not have a stellar game as last, perhaps it was due to him being slowed down by injury. Omar, I thought was great – it's important for a team to have a dominant big man who can hit shots and force the defense to cover him. Tim Wesley, aside from missing a wide open layup on a breakaway, kept Ramapo in the game.

[Rhodes Scholar]

After beating Tufts handily for their most impressive win of the season, William Paterson has lost three straight games:

Manhattanville 67-66
NJCU 56-42
Ramapo 72-69

[Truck]

Ramapo defeated York on Monday, 81-62, behind a spectacular first half.

Ben,

Tonight, your alma mater is going down as Ramapo rolls in and will extend their record to 5-1 NJAC and 13-3 overall.

[Truck]

wow, there is really no activity on these boards....

Ramapo went into Panzer today, and came away with their 4th straight victory, beating MSU by 3, 77-74.


4 guys from Ramapo in double figures - no Assad though.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Per the D3hoops.com scoreboard:

William Paterson 68, Rowan 66

The Pioneers, who have been struggling of late, snap Rowan's 10-game win streak (against rather mediocre competition) with a victory in Wayne. Once again, Jason Cameron did not play for WPU due to injury.

Richard Stockton puts their seven-game win streak on the line tonight against NJCU in Jersey City. The Ospreys' win streak has been against more formidable competition than the Profs'.

In addition, Ramapo has their own streak of four straight wins and will take on Medgar Evers Monday night in Ramapo.

[Knightstalker]

NJCU took care of business against Stockton in Jersey City.  It was NJCU's Green and Gold day aka Homecoming because we have no football team.  The game featured a matchup of the two senior coaches in the NJAC.  Coach Brown and Coach Gerry "Whiteshoes" Matthews have 46 years in the league between the two and 870 combined victories.  It was a good win for NJCU, Alen Mirabel had a great game despite getting elbowed in the head and needing to get patched up. 

[Knightstalker]

It was announced last night that Alex Mirabel will be in SI's faces in the crowd in the next couple of weeks.

[irapthor]

Yes, he will appear in Sports Illustrated soon...I will notify every of the date, although it will probably be next week's issue...Second NJCU athlete in two months...

[Rhodes Scholar]

Rutgers-Camden snapped a 44-game in-conference losing streak yesterday with a 65-61 win over Rutgers-Newark. The last time the Scarlet Raptors won an NJAC contest was on January 28, 2004, when they defeated Montclair State, 77-70.

[Truck]

Ramapo plowed through Medgar Evers, 95-62. After trading baskets, RC started to assert themselves and control the game in the latter period of the first half. RC now is the best team in the NJAC, as determined by winning percentage.

[RAMROAD]

WITH THE ADDITION OF DESMOND AND ASSAD THEY ARE BY FAR THE BEST TEAM IN THE NJAC. HOWEVER THEY ARE STILL GETTING NO RESPECT IN THE POLL.WHY???

[Knightstalker]

I haven't seen that much this season and probably won't get to see the Ramapo NJCU game Wednesday night.  I did see Stockton play NJCU Saturday and I think you have to watch out for them.  They have good size, they are playing well and there are no Seniors on the team.   They are going to be dangerous the rest of the season in my opinion.

Ramapo has not been consistent enough to get love in the poll yet.  Put together a good streak and things will even out.

[Truck]

WITH THE ADDITION OF DESMOND AND ASSAD THEY ARE BY FAR THE BEST TEAM IN THE NJAC. HOWEVER THEY ARE STILL GETTING NO RESPECT IN THE POLL.WHY???

Ramapo has been playing well and they are the best team in the NJAC. They are in fact ranked #30 in the Week 8 Poll. They have beaten WPU and R-N recently, two of the off-season favorites to win the NJAC this year.

What hurt them were their consecutive losses at the PHX Tournament, which was dissapointing, considering their winning the whole thing last year.

As for Assad, he has played only 3 games, of which I have seen him play in 2. He is a phenomenal player but he has also not appeared in the last 2 games.

Desmond has played in 5 games, only scoring 17 total points. Him being on the team has not resulted in the team's success this year, unfortunately. 

The same can't be said for Assad, who, of course, saved us with his 3 point shot with 3 seconds left when they played R-N two weeks ago. I look forward to Assad having a larger presence on the team. Like I said, he's a great player.