Monmouth shocks Lakewood in SCT quarterfinals
Golden Falcons overcome 13-point deficit with just over five minutes left
VERONICA YANKOWSKI Monmouth’s Pat Burnette gets set to shoot over Lakewood’s Adrian Edwards during the Golden Falcons’ 48-45 win in the quarterfinal round of the Shore Conference Tournament on Monday.
With just over five minutes left in their Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinal game against Lakewood, the Monmouth Regional boys’ basketball team made a statement.
The fourth-seeded Golden Falcons, trailing by 13 points against a well-coached, athletic Lakewood squad, refused to quit. Instead, they followed the leadership of their dynamic point guard, Carlos Lee, and shocked the fifth-seeded Piners, overcoming the 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to post a 48-45 overtime victory and advance to tonight’s semifinal round.
According to Lee, the team never doubted its ability to come back.
"We’re weren’t playing our game, we were playing like we were scared," Lee said. "We had no intensity on the floor. We didn’t even have intensity in the locker room."
Lee said that all of that changed in the fourth quarter.
"All we had to do was shut [Lakewood forward] J.R. [Smith] down and we knew we could get back in it," he said. "Once we contained him, we knew we could play our game."
Lakewood built a 42-29 lead early in the fourth quarter on a basket by senior point guard Dyquan Randolph. But Monmouth Regional stormed back. The Falcons went on a 14-3 tear to pull within 45-43 with 17 seconds remaining in regulation.
Monmouth’s Lee (team-high 12 points) then converted a running one-hander in the lane to knot the game at 45-all with two seconds left. Lee scored eight of his 12 points in the final eight minutes.
The clutch shot brought back memories of Lee’s heroics at the end of Monmouth’s New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association playoff game with Somerville last season, when he drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. The Golden Falcons went on to win that game, making Lee two-for-two in do-or-die situations.
"He’s got a knack for making the big shot," said Monmouth head coach T.O. Brunson. "Like every kid on this team, he’s got a lot of heart."
Lakewood’s three-quarter court shot at the buzzer set up some more Monmouth heroics in overtime, this time from Jim Dalton. Both teams were tight in overtime. Yet it was a three-pointer by Dalton with 1:15 remaining in the extra period that sealed the fate of the Piners. Dalton, who finished with eight points, took a pass from Lee, came off a high screen, and calmly drained a trey from the right wing. Following Dalton’s three-pointer, Lakewood still had time to tie. But a couple of off-balance three-point attempts by Randolph failed, setting off a wild celebration by Monmouth Regional players and fans.
At first it appeared Lakewood was in trouble. Monmouth raced out to a 9-0 lead to open the game. But the Piners settled in and solved Monmouth’s scrappy 2-2-1 press to take a 27-16 lead at the half. Lakewood outscored Monmouth 16-5 in the second quarter behind the play of Randolph and Smith.
Brunson said he never lost confidence in his team’s ability to come back.
"These kids play hard, and they were kind of embarrassed at halftime because of the score," he said. "We knew we could play with them, but they’re a very athletic team and they made things difficult for us in the first three quarters.
"Our kids just kept saying to each other that we haven’t gone this far for nothing, and they came out and proved it," he added. "Carlos and Jimmy came up big for us in the end, especially Jimmy with that three. He was having problems all game, but I’m sure he’ll take that one."
Lakewood coach John Richardson gave Monmouth credit for its win, but was understandably upset with his squad’s play down the stretch.
"We’re very disappointed with the outcome," he said. "It was a great game. We had a bunch of opportunities to win this game. We let it slip away from us. We were in command of the game and gave it back to them.
"I tried to tell the kids that no lead would be big enough. I knew a 20-point lead was not enough with the flow of this game. They’re a young aggressive team and they hung in to the end. They didn’t let up and they made good things happen. We had our chances and failed to put it away," the Lakewood coach said.
Richardson cited his team’s inability to cash in on easy points as a key to the loss.
"We failed to convert on a couple of put-backs. We missed foul shots and layups at key times. We didn’t take advantage when we should have," Richardson said. "We were not smart with the ball in key situations, and it came back to haunt us."
For Dalton, who finished with eight points, his ability to nail the big shots in overtime was something he was confident he could do, given the chance.
"The whole game my shots were rimming in and out, and I thought that if I had a good enough look that I’d hit the shot," he said. "I was just fortunate that my teammates gave me that opportunity.
"As a senior, every game becomes more important than the last, and you don’t want to go out on a loss," he added.
Brunson said that the win meant more to the program than just another game in the SCT.
"This is a great win for us because we haven’t been this far in a long time in basketball," he said. "We’re trying to build our program to get up there with Neptune, Lakewood, CBA and the rest of those boys, and we’re working hard. Now we plan on going a little bit farther."
After the win, there was little doubt who the feisty Golden Falcons wanted to face in tonight’s semifinal game.
"We want Neptune, baby," Lee said.
They’ll get their wish tonight, and the top-ranked Scarlet Fliers are playing their best basketball of the season, fresh off an impressive 80-66 win over Southern Regional. The game presents some outstanding matchups, starting with the backcourt, where Lee will have to try to contain Terrance Todd, arguably the top point guard in the Shore Conference, and the entire Monmouth team will have to contend with Taquan Dean, the Louisville-bound guard who is flirting with all-state honors this season.