NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops managed to get out to the College Avenue Barn after work to catch the nightcap game of the doubleheader from the fourth night of action at the 3rd annual Star-Ledger College Summer League. Despite missing the opener, the web site was still able to get the results thanks to the work of Jay Gomes of NJ Hoops, who helps run the league.
The first game was yet another overtime struggle as AXA Advisors took on Nelligan Sports Marketing. AXA was able to prevail in the extra session with a 93-85 victory over Nelligan to move up to 2-1 overall on the season. Jonathan Mitchell of Rutgers paced AXA with a team high of 23 points while Chris Gaston of Fordham led all scorers with a game high 29 points. In the rebounding department, Mike Rosario (21 points and 4 steals) of Rutgers and formerly of St. Anthony’s of Jersey City led AXA with a team high 12 boards while Chris Gaston led all players with 15 rebounds for Nelligan. Mike Coburn of Rutgers and formerly of Mount Vernon in New York (also 20 points and 11 rebounds), showed his playmaking ability once again with 10 assists to register a triple double for AXA while former Bloomfield Tech standout, R.J. Hall (24 points and 5 rebounds), who is bound for Marist in the fall, dished out 4 of his own. Recent Cardinal McCarrick graduate, Mike Burwell of South Kent had 11 points and 7 rebounds to chip in for Nelligan, which is now 1-2 on the summer.
Moving on to the finale, D’Annunzio & Sons moved to within a half game of first place with an 82-66 victory over VP Builders, which remains winless on the summer. The game was a lot closer than the score indicated with 11 lead changes and 10 ties over the first 27 minutes or so while neither team had a lead bigger than 7 points until the final five minutes of the game. Piscataway native, and Oak Hill Academy graduate, Deshawn Mitchell of UNLV led the winners with a game high of 24 points including a lightning quick steal for a two handed dunk that made the score, 55-51 with 11:56 remaining. Anthony Farmer, a former standout at St. Augustine’s Prep in Richland, and now of Rutgers equaled Mitchell with 24 as well.
In the rebounding department, Newark Eastside graduate and current Rutgers standout, Corey Chandler and RU teammate Hamady N’Diaye (5 points and 7 blocks) led D’Annunzio & Sons with a share of the team high in rebounds with 11 each while Franklin Township native and Middlesex County College standout, Mark Tracy (14 points and 4 steals) led all players with 14 boards for VP Builders. Chandler came up with a triple double by handing out 10 assists to go along with his 14 points and 11 boards. Former Linden standout, Jonathan Jones of Kean University had a team high 2 assists for VP Builders. Former Manchester standout, Jaron Griffin, who now plays at Rutgers, chipped in for VP Builders with 19 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
VP Builders came out fighting as Farmer netted a three pointer from the left wing to open up the scoring for a 3-0 lead at the 19 minute mark. Chandler would answer a short time later with a field goal of his own that made the score, 3-2 with about 18:30 to play in the first half. about a minute later, VP went back up by three as Farmer handed out an assist on a jumper from the right corner by Griffin that made the score, 5-2. Chandler then hit a trifecta that knotted the score at 5-5 with 16:30 left in the first half only to have Farmer promptly respond on the very next possession to give VP Builders an 8-5 lead. The two Rutgers backcourt teammates continued to duel as Chandler came back with another trey to tie the game again at 8-8 with 15:30 to go.
Farmer put VP ahead again with a field goal that made the score, 10-8 at the 15 minute mark, but then Chandler handed out an assist on a dish to a cutting Andrew August of Felician for a layup from the left side to tie the game at 10-10 with 14:30 to go in the first half. A short time later though, Griffin went back to work with a three pointer from the right wing for a 13-10 lead with about 14 minutes left before the intermission. D’Annunzio & Sons continued to hang around as former Mendham standout, and current Monmouth University player, Nick Del Tufo, came up with a three point play that knotted the contest once more at 13-13 with 13:20 to go in the half. At that point, VP Builders put together the biggest run of the game with a 7-2 spurt that consisted of a three pointer by Griffin, a field goal by Farmer, and a layup by Tracy for a 20-15 lead.
As a matter of fact, Farmer and Griffin each had 10 points each to combine for 20 of VP Builder’s first 22 points while Chandler had 8 points, August added 4, Del Tufo had his 3, and Mitchell picked up 2 points at that time for D & S. D’Annunzio would keep things from getting too out of hand with a 17-17 showing the rest of the way to make the score, 39-34 at halftime. Then in the second half, D & S put together a 16-10 showing over the first six minutes or so to take a one point, 50-49 lead. VP Builders then got a field goal to wrestle the lead back for the last time, 51-50 with approximately 13:30 left. D’Annunzio & Sons then reeled off five straight points including Mitchell’s steal and lightning quick two handed jam for a 55-51 lead with 11:56 to play as VP called for time. Following the timeout, VP Builders outscored D & S by a 6-5 margin over the next 2:26 to close within three at 60-57 with 9:30 to go.
However, VP couldn’t get any closer as D’Annunzio & Sons embarked on a decisive 18-4 rampage over about a 7 minute span for an 78-61 lead with around two minutes remaining, and eventually won, 82-66.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| D’Annunzio & Sons (2-1) | 34 | 48 | 82 |
| VP Builders (0-3) | 39 | 27 | 66 |