Brookdale's Fire Power Too Much for Camden; Improve to 9-0

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

Lincroft, NJ – The NJCAA DIII defending national champions won their ninth straight game against zero losses defeating Camden County College, 80-62, Thursday night at the Collins Arena.

Sophomore two guard Cory Soanes (Matawan H.S.) was instrumental in the win, playing a tremendous game at both ends of the court in leading the Blues to victory. Soanes finished with 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including 11-second half points when Brookdale was feverishly trying to put away the pesky Cougars.

Soanes also pulled down eight rebounds (five offensive boards), dished out two assists and had four steals. Two of his steals resulted in full court drives to the basket and highlight-reel slam-dunks that incited the Collins Arena crowd, as well triggering two momentum-building runs.

The six-foot-one Soanes is nicknamed 'Air-Soanes' for his incredible vertical leap and uncanny ability to soar above the basket for slam-dunks over much taller players.

Brookdale held an 11-point lead, 38-27, at the half but only shot 44% from the field and turned the ball over 12 times.

In the second half, the Cougar kept hanging around in a game that seemed much closer than the score indicated. Brookdale would push the lead to close to 20 points, and then the Cougars would get the lead back down to 12-to-13 point range.

The Blues finally took control of the game for good with 6:23 left to play when freshman Jaleel Chain's two-pointer pushed the lead over the 20-point mark, 70-49, for the first time in the game. A minute and a half later, Soanes hit a three-point shot that put the Blues up by 24 points and the Blues coasted the rest of the way for the 80-62 win.

Before Thursday's game, Camden (6-2, 4-1) was in second place in the Region XIX standings only a half a game behind the Blues, so this was an important game in terms of making a statement for No.1 ranked Brookdale (9-0,6-0).

Freshman Rahsaan Johnson (Passaic H.S.) played an exceptional game at forward, registering a prestigious double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 62.5% by going 5-for-8 from the field.

Jaimik Moore, a six-foot-three freshman forward from Hackensack H.S., chipped in with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals. Veteran shooting guard, David Rosado (Saddle River Day School), pumped in 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and sophomore guard Tevon Bennett (Orange H.S.)dropped in 10 points.

Point guard Ricky Stephens, a sophomore from Monmouth Regional H.S., did a nice job running the offense and had a solid all-around game with seven points, four boards and three assists.

Brookdale goes on the road for five consecutive games and doesn't play at home again until January 16 against Union County. There is a possibility that the December 10 game versus Cumberland, postponed due to snow, may be rescheduled for the first week of January.

By: Mike Ready

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