NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Thursday night, the third week of action wrapped up at the 3rd Annual Star-Ledger College Summer League at the College Avenue Barn over on the main campus of Rutgers University. Once again, there were two games on the docket including a rematch of an opening night overtime thriller between D’Annunzio & Sons and Bignell Planning. This time however, D’Annunzio & Sons came to play in this particular showdown between co-leaders of the league entering play on Thursday. The other matchup featured Nelligan Sports Marketing against the Scarlet Fever.
In the first encounter, D’Annunzio & Sons rolled to its fifth straight victory with a 101-85 win over Bignell Planning to take sole possession of first place in the league. Piscataway native, and Oak Hill Academy graduate, Deshawn Mitchell of UNLV had game high once more for D & S with 25 points while NJIT standout, and St. Benedict’s alum, Jheryl Wilson was close behind with a team high 24 points for Bignell. Hamady N’Diaye, the 6’11” giant for Rutgers, came up with another solid performance in the low blocks as he collected 9 points, a tie for game high in rebounds with 11, and 9 blocked shots. Sam Mushman, who plays college ball at Wingate equaled N’Diaye’s efforts on the boards with 11 of his own for Bignell.
Newark Eastside’s Corey Chandler, who now figures prominently in Rutgers plans for next season, had another superb effort with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and a tie for game high in assists with 6. James Ulrich of Bignell, who plays for Wagner, also dished out 6 assists in the loss. Colin Aldridge ended up with 21 points and 5 rebounds for Bignell while Wilson finished with a double-double thanks to 10 rebounds to compliment his team high 24 points for BIG.
In the finale, Nelligan Sports Marketing came up with its second victory of the summer, and tied the Scarlet Fever at 2-4 overall with a 100-78 win over the Fever. Wes Perryman of Monroe notched a team high 22 points for Nelligan while former St. Joseph’s standout, Sean Baptiste collected a game high 23 points to compliment a team high 12 rebounds for a double-double for the Scarlet Fever. Yale standout, Paul Nelson pulled down another 19 boards on the night for Nelligan while registering 15 points. Recent Bloomfield Tech graduate, R.J. Hall (21 points), who is headed to Marist in the fall, came up with double-digit assists with 11 while Rob Delaney of Lafayette handed out 5 for the Fever. Other notes from this contest included one more fine performance by Chris Gaston of Nelligan, who plays at Fordham. Gaston recorded yet another double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Matt Hall, a teammate of both Nick Smith and A.J. Rudowitz at Stonehill had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.