Cyclones Pull Away Late For The 76-71 Victory
EWING, NJ–On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops traveled to The College of New Jersey to see the Lions host the Centenary Cyclones in a non-conference game between teams from the NJAC and the Colonial States Athletic Conference. Luckily, the site arrived at the half of the women’s game between the Lady Lions of TCNJ and the Lightning of Lehman College. The game is part of a women and men’s doubleheader with the men’s game starting up right after. Both teams have players that played in the Greater Middlesex Conference while in High School. For TCNJ, Billy Lester (Middlesex) and Franco Valentino (South Brunswick) represented the GMC while Larry Lenahan (South Amboy) and Timmy Brix (Monroe) did the same for Centenary.
Other area players that were participating in this contest were Kyle Rawson (Watchung Hills), Donovan Smalls (Union), and Craig Perry (Colts Neck) for TCNJ while Ludner Innocent (Academy Charter), Will Atkinson (Raritan), Daniel Stein (Holmdel), and Rob Urie (Toms River East) were competing for Centenary. The two coaches in this matchup were both in their third season. Enrico Mastroianni came to Centenary from Misericordia while Kelly Williams previously coached at Mercer County College. Another note on the two staffs, former TCNJ standout, Greg Grant, who led the Lions to the Division III Championship game back in 1989, and played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA, is on the staff at TCNJ.
Both teams enter the contest at 0-1 with the Lions losing at Division I Elon University (99-68) to start the season while the Cyclones began the 2010-11 campaign with a loss at home to Misericordia (81-70). Looking at the statistical leaders after one game for both teams, TCNJ is led by Al Matlock, who leads the team in scoring with 21 points against Elon. Steven Siracusa chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, and Brian Kelly added 10 points and 5 boards. Rawson, a junior, had 6 points and 2 rebounds in the defeat. Meanwhile, Urie had 20 points and 4 rebounds in the defeat to Misericordia while Ludner Innocent chipped in with 16 points and 6 boards. Corey Kearney added 12 points and 3 rebounds while Jacob Halicki contributed with 11 points and 6 rebounds.
In the loss to Elon, TCNJ was out rebounded by a margin of 46-31 while Centenary held a slight edge on the glass (31-29) in its loss to Misericordia. Looking at the rosters of the two teams, Centenary is the more veteran team with four seniors and four juniors on its 18 man roster while TCNJ has only one senior along with six juniors on its 18 man squad. One of those juniors is Lenahan, who is entering his third season as a Cyclone. The South Amboy native has gradually improved with each season. Meanwhile, Timmy Brix is in his freshman year from Monroe, where he led the Purple Birds to two GMCT Final Fours, and the school’s first ever appearance in the conference championship.
Meanwhile, for TCNJ, Lester is coming over to the Lions after spending a year at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg. Lester has come a long way since GMC Hoops first saw him as a freshman for Middlesex. He is a shining example of what hard work, dedication, and determination can do for you. Franco Valentino was a reserve a South Brunswick, who had the ability to knock down the perimeter shot. In the women’s game, Lehman College held a 56-47 lead in the second half only to have TCNJ take a one point 59-58 lead with 53 seconds to play only to have the Lightning pull things out with the final four points for the 62-59 victory. The men’s game started about 30 minutes after the completion of the women’s game.
The game was a back and forth affair with 21 lead changes and 16 ties, and neither team having a lead greater than seven points in the contest. However, Centenary found a way to win with a 15-8 tear over the final 5:04 to pull out the hard fought, 76-71 victory. The Cyclones got a three pointer by Urie with 2:21 left to take a 70-68 lead, and spark an 8-3 spurt to finish the game. According to the article from TCNJAthletics.com, Siracusa led all scorers with a game high 22 points along with 16 rebounds for the Lions in a losing cause. Both marks were career highs for the New Providence native. Atkinson led the Cyclones with a team high 19 points while teammate Rob Urie chipped in with 17 points. Jakub Halicki contributed with a 8 points and 11 boards while Innocent added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Smalls contributed for TCNJ with 10 points and 3 assists while Brian Kelly (Lawrenceville Prep) added 6 points and 5 rebounds. Rawson also helped out with 8 points in the losing cause.
For the game, Centenary shot 28 of 59 from the floor for 48 percent including a scorching 10 of 17 from beyond the arc for 59 percent. The Cyclones were 10 of 19 from the foul line for 53 percent. Meanwhile, TCNJ was only 27 of 69 from the floor for 39 percent including 5 of 18 from long distance for 28 percent. The Lions were slightly better than their opponents at the foul line going 12 of 17 for 71 percent. In the rebounding department, the Cyclones outrebounded the Lions by a margin of 43-39, but TCNJ had the slight edge on the offensive boards (11-10). The Lions also had fewer turnovers (8-14), and more steals (11-4) while the Cyclones had more blocks (4-2) and fewer fouls (19-22). Assists were even (15-15).
Some individual statistics worth noting, Siracusa was 8 of 12 from the floor, and 6 of 9 from the foul line while Rawson was 4 of 7 from the floor for the Lions. Meanwhile, Atkinson was 7 of 9 from the field including 5 of 6 from downtown while Urie was 7 of 3 from the floor including 3 of 4 from three point land. Halicki was 4 of 5 from the foul line including two free throws with six seconds left to seal the victory. Patrick Szukics had a game high 5 assists for TCNJ while Corey Kearney had a team high four assists for Centenary. The GMC players were led by Lenahan, who played 11 minutes, scored 4 points, grabbed 4 boards, and drew a charge in the second half. Timmy Brix (blocked shot) also played 11 minutes, but didn’t score. Lester and Valentino didn’t play for TCNJ. See all the stats in the game’s box score.
The game started with neither team getting on the board for the first two minutes or so. TCNJ drew first blood on a three pointer from Donovan Small before Centenary responded with back to back layups by Ludner Innocent for a 4-3 lead. Albert Matlock gave the Lions the lead back before Ludner added another layup to tie the game, and Robert Urie gave the Cyclones the lead with a three pointer from the left wing as TCNJ called for time with 16:29 to go in the first half, and the Cyclones leading 9-6. Following the timeout, TCNJ went on a 6-2 run over the next four minutes or so for a 12-11 lead. Centenary responded with five of the next seven points including a three pointer from Will Atikinson for a 16-14 lead.
The teams continued to exchange scores as the Lions responded with a trey of their own before Warren Murphy put Centenary back in front with a 19-17 lead. The College of New Jersey came right back down, and struck for three from the right side for a 20-19 edge. The two teams continued to exchange threes and leads before Centenary called for a full timeout at the 8:24 mark with a 25-24 lead. Following the stoppage, the Lions got a layup by Rawson at the 8:00 mark to take the lead, and go up by three at 28-25. However, the Cyclones rallied with six of the next eight points including a free throw, a scoop shot layup by Lenahan for his first points of the game, and a trey by Atkinson from the left side for a 31-30 lead at the 6:09 mark.
Over the next two and a half minutes or so, TCNJ outscored Centenary by a 4-3 margin to tie the score at 34-34 with 3:30 left in the half before Jakub Kalicki drove in for a layup, and a 36-34 advantage at the 3:15 mark. The score would remain that way before Brian Kelly banked in a shot from the left side as he was fouled by Brix to tie the score at 36-36 with 1:50 to go in the half. Urie put the Cyclones back up by two with a driving layup at the 1:39 mark for a 38-36 score. By this time, both teams were in the bonus, and Matlock took advantage with 1:26 left in the half by sinking both ends to knot the score again at 38-38. The score remained tied until the waning seconds of the half when Small missed a jump shot that was rebounded by Centenary, and threw an outlet pass to Daniel Stein for a layup with 12.3 seconds to go in the half, and that’s the way the first half ended with the Cyclones holding a two point edge at 40-38.
There were 16 lead changes and 7 ties in the first half. Neither team had a lead bigger than three points. Centenary was 15 of 32 shooting overall for 47 percent including a blistering 6 of 9 from three while TCNJ kept pace with 15 of 35 shooting for 43 percent including 4 of 12 from long range. The Cyclones were 4 of 6 from the charity stripe versus 4 of 5 for the Lions. The trio of Atkinson (9 points), Urie (7 points), and Innocent (6 points) combined for 55 percent of Centenary’s points while TCNJ had a more balanced attack with five players that had either five or six points in the game’s first 20 minutes. See the complete box score from the first half.
The second half started with Centenary scoring the first five points including a three from the right wing by Urie, and two foul shots by Innocent at the 18:33 mark for the biggest lead of the game at 45-38. TCNJ battled back though with seven unanswered points over the next 2:21 including a three point play by Steve Siracusa, and two layups by Rawson to knot the game again at 45-45 as the Cyclones called for time at the 16:12 mark. Following the timeout, Rawson tried to give the Lions the lead, but Josh Case swatted the shot away, and Centenary took the lead again on a three from the left side by Atikinson for a 48-45 score at the 15:37 mark. Siracusa worked hard again for a traditional three point play to even the score again at 48-48 with 15:18 left.
There was a scoring drought by both teams for nearly two minutes before Siracusa stepped to the line, and made two from the lines for a 50-48 lead with 13:23 remaining. The Lions remained in front until about the 11:45 mark when the Cyclones forced a steal that ended up as a Ryan Donovan layup for a 50-50 tie. Lenahan then drew a charge a short time later, but Centenary couldn’t take advantage as Urie missed a one and one, and Innocent missed two free throws with 10:50 to play. On TCNJ’s next possession, the Lions took the lead as Small connected on a short jumper for a 52-50 score at the 10:23 mark. Over the next two minutes and change, the Lions scored four of the next six points including a layup by Peter Kelly for a 56-52 lead. TCNJ then made a defensive stop as Patrick Szukics drew a charge at the 8:12 mark.
The Cyclones continued to have their struggles at the foul line as Innocent missed the first of two free throws at the 7:43 mark, but made the score to close the gap to 56-53. Corey Kearney then scored a bucket to close the gap to one when Innocent was fouled at the 6:40 mark. With Centenary now in the double bonus, Innocent went to the line to shoot two. He made the first, but missed the second. However, Lenahan was there for the offensive board, and put it back in as he was fouled. The former Guv missed the bonus free throw, but the Cyclones were still back in front at 58-56 with 6:38 to go. TCNJ came right back down to tie though as Siracusa hit a straight on jumper to knot the score at 58-58. Atikinson then drained a three from the left corner at the 6:04 mark for a 61-58 advantage, but Small evened the score with a trey of his own for a 61-61 score. Daniel Bavelski then gave the Lions the 63-61 lead with a score prior to a timeout at the 5:04 mark.
Over the next two minutes, the Cyclones battled back with six of the ten points as Urie scored twice including a pull-up jumper prior to a full timeout by TCNJ at the 2:55 mark with the score tied at 67-67. Following the timeout, the Lions got the ball to Siracusa, who drew a quick foul on Lenahan down low, and made one of two from the line for a 68-67 lead with 2:51 remaining. The tenuous lead didn’t last long though as Urie struck again for a trey from the right corner for a 70-68 lead with 2:15 left. Centenary then eventually made a stop on defense, and got the ball to Halicki for a score with 1:02 left for a 72-68 lead. Siracusa went back to the line to make one of two with 47.7 seconds to play for a 72-69 Centenary lead, but Atkinson score a layup with 35.2 seconds to play for a 74-69 lead. TCNJ got another score from Siracusa before calling a 30 second timeout with 25.6 seconds to play, and the Cyclones still holding a three point lead at 74-71.
The Cyclones nearly threw the lead away when they attempted a dangerous downcourt pass that was stolen with 14.6 seconds to go. The Lions had a chance for a three, but missed, and Halicki was fouled with 6.0 seconds remaining. The sophomore from Pocono Mountain East then made both foul shots to put the 76-71 victory away. With the win, Centenary evened its record at 1-1 on the season while TCNJ dropped to 0-2. See the complete play by play courtesy of TCNJ.