Five Former GMC Players On Roster Including Two Current Starters
UNION, NJ–After starting the season at 0-5, the Kean Cougars have won three of four with the only loss coming on Saturday to Delaware Valley College of the MAC (94-57). All three wins came against foes from the New Jersey Athletic Confernce including Rowan, which entered the contest at 6-1, New Jersey City State University, and William Paterson University. The Cougars are now 3-6 overall including a 3-3 mark in conference play. Contributing to Kean’s recent success has been the stable of former GMC standouts at the school.
This season, Kean sports five former boys hoops players from the Greater Middlesex Conference including two current starters in South Plainfield’s Mike Burton and Spotswood’s Tommy Soulias. So far this season, Burton has played and started in all nine games. The former 1,000 point scorer at SPHS is averaging 34.4 minutes, 17.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and a steal per game. He is shooting 43 percent overall from the floor including 39 percent from three while making 13 of 17 free throws. Prior to today, Burton had team high in scoring in all eight of Kean’s previous games. Meanwhile, Soulias has been recently inserted into the starting lineup, and has made an instant impact.
So far this season, Soulias, another 1,000 point scorer from Spotswood, has played in 6 games including 5 starts. The former Charger is averaging 13.3 minutes, 7.0 points, and 1.7 rebounds per game. He has made 14 of 33 shots from the floor for 42 percent including 11 of 29 from long range for 38 percent. More recently though, Soulias has started in each of the last six games, and scored in double figures in two of Kean’s three victories. In Saturday’s loss at Delaware Valley College, Soulias had a team high seven points.
Three other players on Kean played hoops in the GMC including Kenny Pace (Monroe), Xavier Fuller (Carteret), and Tramane Miller (South Plainfield). Fuller has played in all eight games for the Cougars including one start, and is averaging 2.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest. Kean will be off for the next couple weeks for the holidays before resuming play in the new year at Moravian in the Greyhounds Classic on January 2nd and 3rd.