NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Sunday night, July 13th, GMC Hoops traveled over to the old College Avenue Barn on the main campus of Rutgers University to take in the nightcap game of the doubleheader to kick off the fourth week of action at the 2008 Star-Ledger College Summer League. On this day, the featured matchup was between D’Annunzio & Sons and the Scarlet Fever. D & S entered play on Sunday with a 5-1 mark while the Scarlet Fever was trying to put an end to a losing streak at 2-4. Prior to the start of the nightcap, Nelligan Sports Marketing played VP Builders in the opener with the winner having the chance to move up into the standings, and keep recent momentum going.
In the first contest, Nelligan improved to 3-4 on the summer with an 89-71 victory over VP Builders, which dropped to 2-5. Anthony Farmer, who played at St. Augustine’s Prep in high school, and now resides at Rutgers, led all scorers with a game high 21 points while Pedro Burgos of Mercer County College, led Nelligan with a team high 18 points. Paul Nelson (16 points), who starred at Ridgewood High School, and plays at Yale, turned in another huge rebounding performance with a game high 20 boards on the night to get a double-double for Nelligan while Terrence Grier pulled down a team high of eight for VP Builders to compliment his 6 points, game high 4 assists, and 5 steals. Darryl Lampley, formerly of Linden, and now of St. Peter’s College, handed out a team high 3 assists for Nelligan. Other notables included Linden’s own and Tennessee Tech bound, Jonathan Jones, who collected a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds, and former Roselle Catholic standout, and current Rutgers Newark player, David Cherry, who picked up 9 points and 5 rebounds.
In the nightcap, and featured GMC Hoops matchup, D’Annunzio & Sons moved up to 6-1 overall on the summer with a 78-68 victory over the Scarlet Fever, which dropped its fourth straight and fell to 2-5 overall on the summer. Former Life Center, and California Prep school standout, Hamady N’Diaye, who presently patrols the paint at Rutgers, came up with a monster double-double performance of game high 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead D’Annunzio & Sons to victory. Meanwhile, former St. Joseph’s graduate, and current standout at FDU, Sean Baptiste did his best to spur on the Scarlet Fever with a team high 17 points to go along with 8 rebounds while Sayreville’s Kofi Genfi, who is a walk on at Rutgers, grabbed a team high 13 boards in a losing cause. Justin Garris, who plays ball at NJIT, handed out a team high five assists for D & S while Rob Delaney of the Scarlet Fever dished out a game high 7 for Lafayette.
Other notable performances from the contest were Nick Smith’s efforts for the Scarlet Fever. Smith, who is currently the all time leading scorer at Colonia High School, came up with 15 points including four three pointers to help out in the losing effort for the Fever. Pat Jackson of Rutgers came up with a solid game of 18 points and 6 rebounds while Bridgewater’s own, and Felician bound, Andrew August shows no signs of the effects of a late regular season injury this past year as he scored 8 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for D’Annunzio. After being at work on Sunday, GMC Hoops arrived at the gym with 15:27 to go in the first half, and D & S leading by a 9-2 score.
Moments after our arrival, N’Diaye made his large presence felt with a blocked shot at about the 15 minute mark of the first half. Pat Jackson then netted two free throws at the 14:27 mark for an 11-2 lead. Mark Tracy, who plays at Middlesex County College, connected on a left handed hook to put an end to the early D & S spurt with a left handed hook for an 11-4 D’Annunzio lead with 14:13 to go in the first half. The league leaders quickly responded on its next time down the floor as Justin Garris scored on a drive for a layin, and a 13-4 lead at the 13:59 mark. The Fever quickly responded again as well thanks to a Jamal Goodwin floater for a 13-6 score with 13:40 remaining in the first half. The game continued to go back and forth as former CBA standout, and Rutgers bound, Mike Kuhn got on the board with a layup that not only made the score, 13-8, but also prompted D & S coach, Corey Lowery to call a 30 second timeout with 13:16 to play in the first half.
Following the timeout, D & S showed some of its new found resolve thanks to a two handed slam by N’Diaye off the bounce of a missed jumper for a 15-8 advantage at the 12:49 mark. Genfi then got himself on the board with a tip in over N’Diaye to close the gap to five again at 15-10 with 12:27 to play before halftime. D’Annunzio & Sons would get another field goal though to go up by seven, and force the Scarlet Fever to call a timeout with 12:14 left in the half, and the scoreboard now reading 17-10 in favor of D & S. Over the next four minutes or so, GMC Hoops had a chance to talk with Jay Gomes of NJ Hoops about a number of different things, but then returned to action with the score now 24-16 in favor of D & S as Franklin’s own, Jamal McBride handed out an assist on a jumper from the right wing at the 8:23 mark. However, the Fever would rally to the tune of a 10-1 spurt over the next 3:51 for a 26-25 lead with 5:32 to go before the intermission.
Highlighting the run was a dish by Delaney upcourt to Baptiste for a layup that made it 25-24, and then a steal and assist by Smith on a dunk by Bloomfield’s Goodwin for the one point lead. Unfortunately for those Scarlet Fever supporters such as Sean Baptiste’s father, that would be one of only two times the Fever would lead in the game, and the edge only lasted for 18 seconds. On the very next D’Annunzio & Sons possession, N’Diaye came up with a bucket as he was fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for the traditional three point play, and the score stood at 27-26 with 5:14 to play before the brief break. Genfi would answer at the other end with a putback to put the Fever ahead of D & S, 28-27 at the 4:56 mark, but then D’Annunzio closed out the first half with 6 of the final 8 points to take a 33-30 lead at the half. Highlighting the half closing burst was a Pat Jackson assist on a Jamal McBride layup for a 29-28 lead with 2:25 to go.
The second half saw D’Annunzio & Sons solidify its lead with a 17-6 spurt over the first 6:36 to take a 50-36 lead with 13:24 to play. D & S went to work right away as Justin Garris fed N’Diaye underneath for the two handed rim rocker, and a 35-30 edge just seven seconds into the new period. About a minute and twenty-two seconds later, Andrew August gave a nice high-low feed to N’Diaye for another two handed stuff, and a 37-30 lead at the 18:31 mark. By this time in the contest, N’Diaye was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field. The Fever would eventually get on the board again, but D & S then replied with eight straight points before Genfi registered another offensive rebound and putback to end the 12-2 spurt that made the score, 45-34 with 15:05 left. August then made one of two at the line with 14:39 left, Seton Hall Prep standout, Gary Wallace followed suit with a one of two showing of his own at the 13:24 mark for the 14 point lead, and then after a Jamin Shumate score, August went to the line again, and converted on one of two for a 51-38 lead at the 13:06 mark.
After another score by D & S to give them their biggest lead of the game to this point, Nick Smith then got the Scarlet Fever on the board, and within 13 with a layin from the right side for a 53-40 D’Annunzio lead. The first place squad then scored four of the next points to go up by 16 before Smith netted one of two at the line for a 57-42 score at the 10:30 mark. On the very next possession, N’Diaye made a nice kickout to Wallace for a three pointer, and a 60-42 advantage as Lowery and D & S called for time with 10:10 remaining in the contest. Over the next 59 seconds following the timeout, the Scarlet Fever quickly raced back into the contest with an 8-0 spurt that included an offensive rebound and putback attempt by Baptiste that drew a foul from Pat Jackson, and produced two free throws for a 60-50 D & S lead at the 9:11 mark. Following a D’Annunzio & Sons field goal, Smith drew the Fever closer with a three pointer from the left wing that made the score, 62-53 at the 8:27 mark.
D’Annunzio would come up with another score to push the margin back to 11 only to have Baptiste come up with a long two point field goal on a jumper from the right corner that made the score, 64-55 at the 7:39 mark. D & S would score again though before calling another timeout with 6:31 remaining, and the scoreboard reading 66-55 in favor of D & S. Following the stoppage, D’Annunzio & Sons did their best to keep trying to chip away at the lead. Baptiste came up with a steal that led to a Delaney assist on a three pointer from the right wing by Smith (his fourth and final trey of the game) to cut the deficit to eight at 66-58 with 5:57 to play. After a three pointer by D & S, Baptiste grabbed an offensive board, and put it back in to make it 69-60, and then the FDU standout followed that with a layup to pull his team to within seven at 69-62 with 3:37 to go. However, after another D & S timeout, Pat Jackson put the game away with a jumper from the left corner that went in as he was fouled for a traditional three point play, and a 72-62 lead.
The Scarlet Fever would never threaten again as both teams closed out the game with six points each in the final 3:19 for the 78-68 D’Annunzio & Sons victory. GMC Hoops plans to be back at the Barn next Sunday to see more action from this college hoops league.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| D’Annunzio & Sons (6-1) | 33 | 45 | 78 |
| Scarlet Fever (2-5) | 30 | 38 | 68 |