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Misericordia
Rolls Past FDU-Florham In |
By Greg Machos
November 24, 2007MADISON, NJ--GMC Hoops continued its first full season of men's college basketball coverage with a basketball game involving a college team that has a former GMC standout. For the second time in just five days, the web site traveled up to Madison Ave in Madison to see a college hoops game. However, this time, the trip was to the Florham College Campus of Farleigh Dickinson University, where the Devils were scheduled to take on Misericordia in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon. Last season, the Devils had a superb season with a 17-10 overall mark including a 9-5 record in the Freedom Conference. Drawing the fourth seed in the post-season conference tourney, FDU-Florham dropped its semifinal game to top seeded Kings College. Then, in the ECAC Metro Tournament, the seventh seeded Devils were defeated by second seeded New Jersey City University.
In 2006-07, two players from the Greater Middlesex Conference played for FDU-Florham including former J.P. Stevens standout, Andrew Biancosino, and Nick Shaw of South Amboy, who first played college ball at Ramapo as a freshman. As a sophomore, Biancosino averaged 4.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 0.8 assists per game, 0.4 steals per game. Biancosino, who was a key player on the 2004 J.P. Stevens team that reached the Quarterfinal round of that year's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament as a tenth seed, and took second seeded Cardinal McCarrick to overtime before losing, 58-57, played in all 27 games including one start, and shot 37.2 percent from the floor, 26.5 percent from three point land, and 55.8 percent from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Shaw, who scored 73 points in a game against Perth Amboy Vo-Tech his senior year in 2003, played 58 minutes in ten games during the season, and averaged 1.1 points per game, 0.4 rebounds per game, 0.8 assists per game, and 0.2 steals per game.
This season has started out quite differently for the Devils. Not only is Shaw not on the roster this season, but FDU-Florham lost four of its five starters from last year. Ryan McPherson, a junior from West Orange High School, who averaged 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.5 steals per game in 2006-07, returns while Biancosino and Atlanta, Georgia native, Milton LaCroix move up from the bench. Consquently, the team is going through some growing pains with three straight losses by an average of 20 points per game to start 2007-08. Through the first three games, McPherson leads the Devils in scoring with a 17.7 points per game average while being second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 rebounds per game. In addition, Biancosino is the second leading scorer with 12.0 points per game. Leading the Devil youth movement, 6'8", 200 pound freshman center, Rickey Fetske from Absegami High School in South Jersey, who leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and blocked shots (3.7 bpg).
Meanwhile, Misericordia, which is based in Dallas, Pennsylvania situated in the Northeastern portion of the state, won its season opening tournament with victories over Penn State University at Hazleton (73-50) and Baptist Bible (80-69) before losing on Tuesday to pre-season Landmark Conference favorite, Scranton by a score of 53-46. Last season, the Cougars, which compete in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, were 10-15 overall, and 8-10 in conference play. The team returns 11 letter winners including top players, Tony Rezykowski and Vinny Baumunk. After missing the post-season conference tournament for the first time in ten years, the Cougars are looking to return this season. Misericordia took a big step toward that goal by scoring the first eleven points of the game over a span of just 4:47. Then, after FDU-Florham rallied to tie the game with a 20-9 tear over a span of 9:30, the Cougars regained control of the contest by ending the half with an 18-3 surge, and opened the second half with an 8-2 run for a 46-25 lead. From there, Misericordia, which outscored the Devils by a 47-19 margin over a 20:53 span, went on to win easily by a score of 69-45.
According to the stats provided by FDU-Florham, Biancosino was the lone bright spot for FDU-Florham with a team high 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting overall from the floor including 4 of 9 from three point range. The former J.P. Stevens guard scored 11 of his points during the first half rally that got the Devils briefly back into the game. Biancosino also collected 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. McPherson chipped in with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals while three players (Fetske, George Twill, and LaCroix) added six points in the loss. On the other side of the ledger, Misericordia had two players score in double figures including Vinny Baumunk, who had a game high 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting, and 2 of 3 from the foul line. Baumunk also added seven rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. Robbie Johnson chipped in for the winners with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor including a three pointer while also collecting 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Cougar guards Marcus Little and Ryan Roa did a great job orchestrating the balanced attack with 9 points each while combining for 7 assists and 3 steals.
For the game, Misericordia shot nearly 50 percent for the game with a 24 of 49 showing from the floor that included a solid 14 of 25 showing in the opening half for 56 percent. The Cougars were also a blistering 7 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half for 77.8 percent, and ended the game with a 8 of 14 showing for 57.1 percent. Meanwhile, FDU-Florham went 15 of 47 from the floor for 31.9 percent including a paltry 6 of 27 in the second half for 22.2 percent. Three pointers were hard to come by outside of Biancosino as the team overall went 6 of 22 from downtown for 27.3 percent including a 1 of 8 effort in the second half. Outside of Biancosino, the team went just 2 of 13 from three for just 15.4 percent. At the foul line, there was more disparity as the Cougars had twice as many attempts going 13 of 22 for 59.1 percent while FDU-Florham shot a much higher percentage with a 9 of 11 effort for 81.8 percent. In other statistical areas, the visitors from Pennsylvania held edges in rebounding (34-29), offensive rebounding (8-7), assists (12-8), steals (13-10), turnovers (17-20), and fouls (13-18). Blocks were even as both teams got four apiece.
As mentioned earlier, the Cougars got off to a fast start with the first 11 points of the contest as Little led the way with 5 points while Baumunk added three. Dom Del Prete (7 points on 1 of 6 FGs including 1 of 2 threes, and a perfect 4 of 4 FTs, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, an assist, and a block) helped Misericordia draw first blood with a three pointer from the left corner over an outstretched hand of Biancosino to make the score, 3-0 at the 19:34 mark. On the next FDU-Florham possession, Cougar forward, Matt Hornak (3 of 7 FGs including 3 of 7 threes for 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and an assist) drew a charge on McPherson on the 19:15 mark. Nearly fifteen seconds later, Baumunk got the ball in the right low block, and scored on a nice pivot and spin to make the score, 5-0 with nearly a minute gone by in the game. The junior Cougar forward then stepped up to the line a little more than a minute later to make one of two for a 6-0 Misericordia lead at the 17:49 mark. The Cougars continued the opening onslaught as Little drove in for a layup at the 17:02 mark for an 8-0 lead. The sophomore guard then capped the run by taking in a kick out pass from Hornak, and connecting on a three pointer for an 11-0 lead with 15:15 left in the half. Moments later, FDU-Florham coach, Pete Marion, called for time.
Following the timeout, the Devils showed some life with 20 of the next 29 points over nearly a ten minute span to actually tie the game at 20-20. McPherson began the comeback by dribbling in for a short jumper for the team's first field goal and points of the game at the 14:49 mark. Following a Cougar score that made it 13-2, McPherson got his first assist as he passed to Biancosino for a three pointer from the right wing that pulled the Devils within eight at 13-5 with 13:32 to play in the half. Almost a minute after that, the Devil duo paired up again as McPherson passed to Biancosino again, but for a three pointer from the left wing that made the score, 13-8 at the 12:38 mark. The Cougars would reply with a three of their own for an eight point lead, but FDU-Florham came right back as McPherson hooked up with Biancosino for a third time on a three pointer from the left wing at the 11:57 mark to close the gap to five again, 16-11. Using up a lot of energy early on, McPherson looked winded as Misericordia's Robbie Johnson almost came up with a traditional three point play at the 11:06 mark, but missed the bonus free throw as the score read 18-11 in favor of the Cougars.
After a thirty second timeout by the Devils with 10:47 to play in the half, Biancosino picked up a steal off an errant pass, and went in for an easy layup that made it a five point contest again at 18-13. Little then responded with a drive and spin that drew contact, but no call as he scored for a 20-13 lead with 9:42 to play in the first half. Little's score would be the final score for the Cougars for a while as Misericordia endured a scoring drought of 4:24 and FDU-Florham took advantage with seven straight points. Biancosino, who was called for an offensive foul at the 9:29 mark, played a pivotal role in the run as he gave a lob pass to LaCroix for a layin that made the score, 20-15 at the 8:54 mark. The junior Devil forward, then passed to McPherson, who scored on a nice drive to the basket for a 20-17 Misericordia lead with 7:40 to go before intermission. Following a Cougar timeout at the 7:13 mark, McPherson picked up his third assist of the half on a three pointer from the top of the key by former Mendham standout, George Twill (6 points on 2 of 6 shooting including 1 of 4 from three, and 1 of 2 from the foul line, and a rebound) that knotted the game at 20-20 with 5:43 left before intermission.
Unfortunately, the climb uphill to tie the game must have taken a lot of energy of the Devils. On top of that, the Cougars immediately wrestled back control of the contest with twelve straight points and an 18-3 surge to end the half up, 38-23. The Misericordia run started when Little lobbed a pass into Baumunk for a layup that put the Cougars back out in front to stay at 22-20 with 5:18 left in the half. Del Prete then added a pair of foul shots at the 4:06 mar for a 24-20 advantage. Despite a nice block by Fetske on Roa at the 3:48 mark, Misericordia kept its nose to the grindstone as Little passed to Roa on the left wing for a jumper that increased the lead to six at 26-20 with 3:40 remaining in the period. Roa then registered an assist by penetrating and then kicking the ball out to Hornak on the perimeter for a three pointer from the left wing for a 29-20 lead at the 3:05 mark. Hornak then struck again from three thanks to a nice pick and roll play by the 6'5" senior forward, and Roa to make the score, 32-20 at the 2:33 mark. FDU-Florham then called timeout two seconds later, but it wasn't the cure despite a trey from Biancosino at the 1:19 mark that ended the 12-0 tear for a 32-23 Cougar lead.
Putting the Devils on the brink, Misericordia closed out the first half with the final six points on a three pointer from the left wing by Johnson at the 56 second mark, and then a three pointer from the left wing again by sophomore forward Mark Williams (1 of 2 FGs including a three pointer for 3 points and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes playing time) as time was running out in the first half for a 38-23 Cougar lead going into the locker room. Looking at FDU's first half scoring Biancosino and McPherson combined to score 78.3 of the team's points as the junior forward made three treys and a field goal for 11 points along with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal while McPherson had two field goals and a three pointer for 7 points along with three assists. The other scoring was on the three pointer by Twill and the layin by LaCroix. The second half would start out much like the first half did, but this time, Misericordia didn't let the Devils back into the contest. The Cougars scored eight of the first ten points of the second half for a 46-25 lead as FDU-Florham didn't get its first field goal until the 15:08 mark. The home team got off to an inauspicious start in the second half as Baumunk got a block on LaCroix at the 19:50 mark. Then, following a pair of free throws by McPherson at the 19:36 mark, the Devils failed to score again as Hornak blocked a McPherson shot with 19:08 to play.
Taking off from there, the Cougars got their first points of the second half on one of two from the line by Roa following a technical foul assessed on Twill at the 19:03 mark. Little then stepped up to the charity stripe for two after being fouled on a drive along the left baseline at the 18:46 mark that made the score, 41-25. Biancosino, who had his share of troubles in the second half, then had a lob pass of his stolen, and that was converted into a score as Roa made a nice bounce pass to Baumunk for a layup that gave Misericordia a 43-25 lead. Biancosino then tried to drive along the left baseline for a layup, but it was blocked by Hornak at the 17:04 mark. Following two missed free throws by the senior Cougar forward at the 16:35 mark, Roa then struck for a three pointer from the right wing that gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 46-25 with 16:15 remaining. Since being tied at the 5:43 mark of the first half, Misericordia outscored FDU-Florham by a 26-5 margin. The Devils tried to get up off the floor with a pair of free throws by Fetske at the 15:52 mark, and then a straight on jumper by LaCroix off a nice penetration and kick out by McPherson at the 15:08 mark for a 46-29 Cougar lead.
Getting his only points of the game, Evan Donegan netted a pair of free throws that made the score, 48-29 at the 14:55 mark before the Devils brought the deficit back down to 17 again on a nice penetration and dish by Vince Crowe to Fetske for a two handed jam that made the score, 48-31 with 13:40 left. Biancosino then got his final points of the game on a three pointer from the left wing to answer an earlier Misericordia score for a 50-34 Cougar lead at the 13:15 mark. Baumunk then put and end to the 9-4 FDU spurt with a score underneath at the 12:43 mark, and that sparked a 19-5 tear by the Cougars over a span of 7:53 to put the game well out of reach at 67-39 with 4:50 to play. By the 7:36 mark of the second half, Misericordia's head coach, Trevor Woodruff, put in the Cougar reserves as the visitors cruised home with a 69-45 victory. With the victory, Misericordia raised its record to 3-1 on the season while FDU-Florham remained winless at 0-4. Up next on the schedule for the Devils is the College of Staten Island at home on November 28th while the Cougars will host DeSales on November 26th. Next college game for GMC Hoops will be on November 27th when it travels out to Centenary to watch the Cyclones take on Berkeley College at 8:00 PM.
Team |
1 | 2 | Total |
Misericordia (3-1) |
38 | 31 | 69 |
FDU-Florham (0-4) |
23 | 23 | 45 |
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