GMC Hoops Summaries--Thursday, November 20, 2008
College Hoops--Hoop Group Philly Classic

Rhode Island Cruises Easily Past Monmouth, 85-62

By Greg Machos
November 20, 2008

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ—For the first time ever, GMC Hoops took a trip down to Monmouth University to take in a basketball game. It was the preliminary round of the Hoop Group Philly Classic as the Hawks were hosting the Rams of Rhode Island. It was also an opportunity for the web site to catch former South Plainfield standout Marquis Jones, play in a college basketball game. Jones, the all time leading scorer at SPHS led the Tigers to its first ever conference/county crown when he topped a roster that went 27-1 in the 2003-04 season. He then followed that up with another GMCT Championship, and a 19-6 record in 2004-05.

For his career, Jones helped the Tigers gain three straight GMC White division crowns, and GMCT Final Four appearances. Unfortunately, the success in the GMC didn’t translate over to the state tournament where the Tigers only reached the Championship Game of the North Jersey Section 2 Group III State Tournament in 2004, and lost its only game of the season to Marques Johnson, Qar’ran Calhoun, and Raritan High School, which ultimately won the Group III State Championship over Shore Conference rival, Manasquan. The other two years, SPHS was knocked out early including the first round by Red Bank in the 2003 Central Jersey Group III Tournament, and New Brunswick in the 2005 North Jersey Section 2 Group III State Tournament Quarterfinals. During Jones’ tenure at SPHS, the school compiled a record of 77-23.

Since leaving South Plainfield, Jones went to St. Thomas More Prep of Connecticut to work on his academics while getting prepared to play Division I College Basketball at the University of Rhode Island, where he finally ended up last season. This year, Jones has polished his game according to Providence Journal Sports Columnist, and URI beat writer, Paul Kenyon. The result could be something special up in Rhody Ram Country. The Rams struggled in their first game against Brown before winning the matchup with its local rival by a score of 76-74 on November 14th. Two days later, the team continued to baffle the experts as senior guard, Jimmy Baron lit up Cameron Indoor Stadium with 8 three pointers including a couple of unbelievable shots according to Kenyon in what ultimately was a surprising 82-79 loss to powerhouse Duke.

On the other hand, Monmouth started the year with a tough road trip out to Florida, and then lost its top player in Whitney Coleman in the opener. Losing to Florida Atlantic (72-69) and Florida International (80-61), the Hawks enter the contest with a 0-2 record. However, the school does have a promising talent in former Union star, Travis Taylor, who helped lead the Farmers to the semifinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament before losing to Piscataway on the road. In addition, Taylor, a 6’7”, 200 pound, freshman, led Union to a victory over Cardinal McCarrick that snapped a 15 game winning streak by the Eagles. With Taylor in the lineup, the future is looking a bit brighter for Monmouth.

Compared to the game that had been played the night before at Philadelphia University, this game was not as close. In the first 1:53, Rhode Island jumped out to an 8-0 lead, shot 5 of 7 including 1 of 2 from beyond the arc in just the first 4:44 to take a 13-5 advantage, and never really looked back. The Rams did have some struggles with a Monmouth team that ended up shooting 12 of 28 from the floor at the intermission including a 6-12 effort from beyond the arc, but they still led 48-30 at halftime, and eventually won going away, 85-62. For the game, Jones, who played a team high 23 minutes, orchestrated the offense very well with a game high 6 assists, 2 steals (tied for game high), a rebound, and only one turnover. The result was a balanced attack that was led by guard Keith Cothran (7 of 10 FG including 2 of 3 3PTR, and 2 of 2 Fts for a game high 18 points), Jimmy Baron (6 of 10 FG including 3 of 7 3PTR for 15 points), Kahiem Seawright (3 of 7 Fgs and 7 of 8 Fts for 13 points, and 7 rebounds), and Delroy James (4 of 6 Fgs including 1 of 2 3PTR, and 1 of 1 from the line for 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists). Taylor led the way for Monmouth with 7 of 9 shooting including four straight makes to start the game for a team high 14 points, game high 9 rebounds, and 4 assists (tied for team high).

Mike Myers-Keitt chipped in for the losing cause with 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists on 5 of 11 shooting including 1 of 3 from three point range, and 2 of 2 from the foul line. Yaniv Simpson made all four of his three point attempts in the first half to spark Monmouth, and ended up going 4 of 6 overall for 12 points, and an assist in 20 minutes. For the game, URI shot 31 of 59 for 52.5 percent overall from the floor including 9 of 22 from downtown for 40.9 percent. On the other hand, Monmouth only shot 25 of 58 for 43.1 percent including 9 of 22 from long range to equal the Rams. At the charity stripe, Rhode Island went 14 of 19 for 73.7 percent while Monmouth only made 3 of 7 foul shots. The Rams enjoyed edges in rebounding (36-33), assists (19-17), steals (6-5), blocks (1-0), turnovers (10-18), and fouls (13-19). The only category that wasn’t in their favor was offensive rebounds as each team had 15. See all the stats at the Monmouth athletics web site.

Rhody went right to work to start things off as Seawright went to the line, and sank a couple free throws at the 19:15 mark for a 2-0 lead. Jones then got into the act with his first assist on a nice dish from about 30 to 35 feet out down low to Cothran for a layup, and a 4-0 lead at the 18:47 mark. The Rams then followed that up with a layup by Jones, and a quick steal and layin by Cothran for an 8-0 lead at the 18:07 mark. Seawright continued the Monmouth dry spell by drawing a charge on R.J. Rutledge at the 17:43 mark. The Hawks would end the drought with its first field goal of the game on a jumper by Myers-Keitt at the 17:23 mark following a carry by Jones that would be the former SPHS guard’s only miscue of the game. Monmouth pulled into three points on a trey from Myers-Keitt at the 16:35 mark. The Rams then scored the next seven points including a trey by Baron, a steal and jam by Cothran, and then after an official timeout at the 15:17 mark, two foul shots by Cothran for a 15-5 lead.

Taylor, who played with no fear, and looked like a poised upper classman, got his first field goal of the game with a layup as he was fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for the traditional three point play for a 15-7 score with 15:03 to go in the first half. Baron then promptly replied with a trifecta from the left wing for an 18-7 URI advantage at the 14:43 mark. Over the next three minutes, the Rams went on a 6-5 run including a three-point play by James at the 11:43 mark for a 24-12 lead. Taylor put the Hawks on the board with a field goal that close the gap to 21-12. After another official timeout, Monmouth got to within 10 again on a nice feed to Taylor for a layup that made the score, 24-14. URI kept in control though with 5 of the next 7 points including a three pointer from the left wing by Cothran for a 29-16 advantage at the 10:07 mark. Jones then drew another charge on James Hett (3 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals) at the 8:59 mark.

Following three points by Monmouth to pull within ten points again, Lamonte Ulmer (2 of 6 FG and 3 of 3 FT for 7 points), got his only steal of the game for a dunk, and a 31-19 edge at the 7:45 mark. Simpson, who had hit a trey earlier, connected again to get the Hawks within single digits again on a trey at the 7:25 mark. After another official stoppage, Ulmer got two more points with two from the line for a 33-22 lead. Simpson hit another three to close the gap to eight, but Monmouth couldn’t get any closer. Rhode Island, which closed the half with a 17-8 run, actually had a 15-5 tear over the final six minutes before the intermission. The Rams were in the bonus by the 5:24 mark, and although Jones missed the front end of a one and one following a nice scoop shot attempt on the drive, they still managed to hit three of next four for a 38-25 lead with 4:18 to go in the half.

Monmouth tried to hang tough as Rutledge (5 points, 1 rebound, and an assist), connected on his only three pointer of the game for a 38-28 score. Then, after another official timeout at the 3:38 mark, Seawright netted two free throws for a 40-28 lead. Rhody then got 8 of the last 10 points including a rebound by Jones that was outletted to James, who passed to Cothran for a layup, and a 46-30 lead with 34.2 seconds to play in the half. Cothran then capped the half for Rhode Island with a jam for a 48-30 lead at the break. The start of the second half began much like the first half ended. Over the first seven minutes of the period, URI outscored Monmouth 15-1 for a 23-3 surge to transform what had been a 40-28 contest into a 63-31 rout. Jones started things off with a pass to Cothran for a three pointer from the right wing, and a 51-30 lead at the 19:15 mark.

Jones drew his first and only foul of the game at the 18:28 mark, which resulted in one of two free throws by James Hett for a 51-31 Ram advantage. Forty-eight seconds later, James scored on a reverse layup for a 53-31 lead at the 17:40 mark. Neither team would score for over two minutes before Jones put the icing on the cake with a no look pass in the key to Seawright for a score, and a 55-31 advantage with 15:26 remaining. Rhody then scored the next eight points for its commanding lead, and didn’t look back. With the victory, Rhode Island improved to 2-1 overall while Monmouth slipped to 0-3. Take a look at Greg's blog entry about his trip to Monmouth, and the updated GMC Hoops College Schedule.

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