North Brunswick’s Claggett Leads His Colts Past MCC
Middlesex County College’s Chandler Wreh skies for a rebound over Orange County College’s Avery Claggett in the Consolation Game of the 2019 Turkey Hoop Shoot at the County College of Morris in Randolph on Saturday. Claggett, a former North Brunswick High School hoops standout, prevailed in the end with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Colts of SUNY OCC to a come from behind, 60-57 victory over MCC.
RANDOLPH, NJ—Following an opening round, 100-87 loss to the host school, County College of Morris on Friday evening, Middlesex County College had to rebound quickly to prepare for its 12:00 PM Consolation Game against SUNY Orange County College in the CCM Turkey Hoop Shoot.
Another thing that worked against the Blue Colts was that top player, Ibn Lynn, who had a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds in a come from behind win over Union County College on Tuesday night in Cranford, was not available to play. MCC did not seem affected for the first 30 minutes or so of the contest.
Trailing 17-16 with under eight minutes to play in the first half, Old Bridge freshman, Jared Meyer, sparked a 19-2 Middlesex County College tear with a three pointer from the right wing at the 7:38 mark. The Blue Colts then used their pressure defense to force turnovers to eventually take a 34-19 lead late in the half before SUNY Orange got a layup in the closing seconds to pull within 13 at 34-21 at the break.
Middlesex CC then opened up the second half much like it had ended the first with 18 of the first 30 points including a couple breakaway layups off Blue Colt steals by Monroe’s Josh Daniels, a jam by Marquise Billingsley, another three by Meyer, and then a layup off a back door cut from the right wing by Luke Patel to take a seemingly commanding lead at 52-33 with 9:52 to play in the game. SUNY Orange would dramatically turn things around though for a 60-57 win.
Led by former North Brunswick High School standout, Avery Claggett, now a sophomore at the school, the Colts finished the contest on a 27-5 surge by holding the Blue Colts without a field goal during the span. All Middlesex was able to muster on offense were free throws from Patel and Meyer while Claggett sparked the comeback with a follow at about the 9:40 mark, and then a bucket with about three minutes left followed by a three from the right corner to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:40 remaining in regulation.
A little over a half minute later, SUNY Orange CC came back down the court and scored again on a bucket by freshman Mitch Kernizan at the 2:08 mark to take a 56-54 lead. Meyer made two free throws with a little over a minute remaining to knot the game again at 56-56 before SUNY Orange got a bucket from the right low block by sophomore Josh Parker with 44.7 seconds remaining to take the lead for good at 58-56. Kernizan then netted two free throws with 9.5 seconds left for a 60-56 advantage.
Middlesex County College got a bit of life when a technical foul was called on SUNY Orange with 9.5 seconds left. Meyer made the first, but missed the second of the two technical free throws to close the gap to three, but after a missed FT by SUNY Orange, Blue Colts last second desperation attempt fell short despite some great execution to tap the ball out towards center court for the halfcourt shot before the buzzer.
Claggett, who was one of the key players that helped guide North Brunswick’s JV to the 2016 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Championship over defending champ, South Brunswick, led the winners with a team high 21 points along with 10 rebounds for a double-double. Claggett was 7 of 10 from the floor including 2 of 3 beyond the arc in 35 minutes of action. He made his first three from the right wing in the second half, and then the second to tie the game with 2:40 left in regulation. Claggett also added a steal and a block.
Parker added 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist in 34 minutes despite some struggles shooting from the floor. Kernizan also chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds with 3 assists and 3 steals in 38 minutes. SUNY Orange County College had eight players get into the game with six of those players scoring. The Colts connected on 24 of 54 attempts from the floor including 3 of 6 from downtown while making 9 of 13 from the charity stripe.
SUNY Orange also collected 33 total rebounds including 16 on the offensive glass, 11 steals, 7 assists, and 5 blocks. The Colts committed 17 turnovers and 22 personal fouls. The Colts ended outscoring MCC by a 39-23 margin in the second half. Meyer and Daniels were still bright spots in defeat for Middlesex as both picked up some of the slack offensively with Lynn out of the lineup. Daniels had a kind bounce on a three in the first half along with a couple breakaway layups in the second.
Meyer also added a layup in the first half along with some free throws. Patel opened the scoring in the game with a three off a kickout from Daniels. Billingsley continued to shoot the ball well with a nice jumper from the left elbow in the first half. Alkiem Raines also provided his usual spark off the bench with plays such as a layup that followed Meyer’s three to highlight the first half tear that produced the 13 point halftime lead. Vincent Montgomery got the start and had a couple blocks in the first half.
With the victory, SUNY Orange County College improved to 5-2 overall on the season. The Colts rebounded to win on Saturday after having their four game winning streak snapped by Howard Community College of Maryland on Friday (77-67). Meanwhile, Middlesex County College, which led 40-39 against the County College of Morris before being outscored 61-47 in the second half in its loss on Friday night, dropped to 5-4 overall on the season. SUNY Orange competes in Division 2 and Region 15 with the likes of Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester.
Last year, SUNY Orange was 14-15 overall including a 5-4 mark in conference play. The Blue Colts have already matched last year’s loss total prior to play in the 2019 NJCAA D3 Elite Eight. Middlesex was 27-4 after winning the Region 19 Championship a year ago, and before losing all three games played at the Nationals in Rochester Minnesota to finish the season at 27-7. Middlesex returns to action on Tuesday, November 26th with a home game versus Camden County College at 7:00 PM. SUNY Orange has two games this holiday week with a contest at home versus Ulster CC at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, and then a matchup against Kingsborough on the road at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 30th.
GMC NEWS AND NOTES: Avery Claggett has played in and started all 7 games so far this season for SUNY Orange CC, and has averaged 32.6 minutes, 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 assists per game so far this season. Claggett has made 34 of 77 shots from the floor for 44.2 percent including 14 of 34 from three point range for 41.2 percent. The Colts sophomore guard has also made 22 of 31 attempts from the foul line for 71 percent. Claggett ranks 4th nationally in offensive rebounds with 33 and 47th in rebounds per game. He ranks 50th in total rebounds with 60. As a freshman, the North Brunswick native played at Rockland County College, where he appeared in 20 games including 19 starts, and averaged 15.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 steals. He made 106 of 226 shot attempts for 46.9 percent including 40 of 111 from three for 36 percent. Claggett averaged 27th in offensive rebounds (98), 12th in Rebounds per game with 11.2, and 69th in total rebounds (224). Rockland finished the season at 3-21 overall in 2018-19.