Brookdale Men's Basketball Wins Region XIX Championship; 3-Peat For The Jersey Blues As Champs

Article is courtesy of Mike Ready, a journalist for the Jersey Sporting News and Middletown Patch, who covers Brookdale Community College athletics.

 Lincroft, NJ – Down by 16 points with 1:54 remaining in the first half to second-seeded Delaware County (26-5, 14-0), top-seeded Brookdale closed the gap to nine at the half before staging one of the most dramatic second-half comebacks in school history to defeat the Phantoms 85-81 for their third NJCAA Region XIX DIII Championship in a row.

With the win, Brookdale (29-1, 19-1) now moves on to the NJCAA DIII Championship Tournament March 13-15 at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, New York. They will face Region XXI Champion Lincoln College of New England (Hartford Ct.) in a quarterfinal game Thursday, March 13 at 5:00 p.m. in the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse.

Sophomore standout Cory Soanes (Matawan Regional H.S.) scored seven points, including a 3-pointer, during Brookdale's 9-2 run at the end of the first half. Freshman Mason Jones' (Manchester H.S) defensive rebound and full court drive to the basket cut Delaware County's lead to 44-35, giving the Blues much needed momentum heading into the locker room at the half.

"I knew all we needed was some momentum," Soanes said. "I knew if we could get the momentum on our side going into halftime that would be big for us."

Soanes had a remarkable first half to help keep the Blues in the game, dropping 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds – five off the offensive glass – blocking four shots, and making four steals. Sophomore forward Joe Nickerson added 10 first-half points before getting into foul trouble.

"I didn't have any doubt that we weren't going to lose," Soanes said after the game. "I just told everybody to keep pushing it and don't give up; we've been in this situation before (down in Philly) and you got to play with your heart; I knew if we kept working hard we could win."

Delaware County jumped back out to a 13-point lead to start the second half before Brookdale ran off six-straight points to pull to within four. Sophomore guard David Rosado (Saddle River Day School) hit a jumper to cut the lead to eight, Jones had a steal and a pretty reverse layup and Soanes grabbed an offensive board and put it back up to make it 66-62 at 9:35.

Nickerson was fouled on a turn-around shot, making both free throws to draw within one, 73-72, with 4:16 remaining.  After two free throws by Delaware County's Kareem Robinson, Nickerson again pulled the Blues to within one after sophomore guard Ricky Stephens found him underneath with a perfect strike.

Nickerson fouled out on the ensuing possession and Phantom guard Shanier Cottman made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 76-74 with Rosado corralling the rebound on the miss for the Blues. Jones then tied the game 76-76 with a short jumper in the paint at 3:10 and the Collins Arena crowd erupted.

Cottman completed a three-point play after being fouled on the shot and Delaware County went up 79-76 with 2:24 remaining in the game.

On Brookdale's next possession Jones was sent to the foul line for three shots after being fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and made 2-of-3 shots to get back Brookdale to within one, 79-78.

On Delaware County's inbound play, freshman Tyrone Curry (Charlotte N.C.) made the steal and Brookdale called time out with possession in their favor.

After a Blues turnover, Delaware County's Dominik Owen's was fouled and missed both shots with Brookdale freshman forward Jaimik Moore grabbing the board off the second free throw attempt.

After a Curry miss at 1:12, Rosado grabbed the rebound and was fouled as he followed through with a put-back shot. Rosado then calmly sank both free throws hitting just net on both, to hand the Blues their first lead of the game since midway through the first half, 80-79.

Curry then grabbed a rebound off a Robinson miss and was immediately fouled to put him at the line for two shots with 45 seconds remaining in the game. He then sank both for a three-point Blues lead 82-79.

Robinson again missed and Moore was there for the board before being fouled. Moore made the first and missed the second with 30 seconds on the clock for a four-point Brookdale lead, 83-79.

After a Delaware County timeout, Moore snatched another rebound off a miss and again was fouled immediately. With the crowd now going berserk, he coolly sank both foul shots for a 85-79 and the game was essentially over. Cottman hit a shot at the buzzer for the 85-81 final.

Brookdale hit 9-of-10 foul shots in the final two minutes of game and 19-of-25 in the second half. Both Moore and Rosado were 5-for-6 from the line.

Tournament Most Valuable Player, Jaimik Moore scored a team-high 21 points -17 in the second half - pulled down 11 boards and had two steals. In three tournament games, Moore averaged 16 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.

Soanes also finished with 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds – nine offensive boards – had six steals and blocked four shots; all team highs. Soanes averaged 13 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and he had 12 steals in the three games.

"Cory made some tremendous plays with his athletic ability," head coach Paul Cisik said. "He kept us in it throughout the game."

Nickerson ended with 16 points before fouling out and averaged a team high 21 points in three tournament games. All three players (Nickerson, Soanes and Moore) were worthy of the Most Valuable Player award.

Jones registered 12 points – six points in each half – and Rosado chipped in with seven points.

"I'm going to let everyone know it just gets harder from here," Soanes said. "I feel my experience from last year will help the team and I plan on passing it on to everyone. Winning a national title is an unbelievable feeling and now we have the chance to repeat."

"I was really down when I fouled out, I felt I let my team down," Nickerson said. "They stepped up for me; I'm so proud of my team. Jaimik, Cory, Mason, Tyrone, everyone; they all stepped up big time."

"We were in a position we never were in this year," head coach Paul Cisek said. "I asked them to get it down to 10 at half and by five at the nine minute mark; that was our goal and they did it. Then with 1:08 to go David (Rosado) went to the line and hit two free throws to put us ahead and the momentum was on our side. It was a great crowd, great atmosphere and most importantly, a great win."

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The team is next in action on Thursday, March 13th against Lincoln College of New England for a 5:00pm tip-off.