By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Eric Klacik has enjoyed being part of the group of players from The College of New Jersey who spend their summer playing in the Princeton Recreation Men’s Summer Basketball League.
“I know they have been here for three or four years before I got here,” said Klacik, who will be a junior with the Lions this year. “Skye (Ettin) was out here with the team then and got it started and we’ve stayed with it. It’s good to get out on the court and play with the guys over the summer. It helps keep the chemistry going.”
This year the players from TCNJ are part of the SAT Smart/Princeton Soup & Sandwich team that improved to 3-0 with a 59-45 win over Princeton Pi on Monday. Klacik led the way with 15 points, while Kevin Bloodgood chipped in with 13. They will face fellow unbeaten Bring Me Food in a key matchup tonight.
“So far it has been good,” Klacik said. “People just have to step up. Everyone is working hard.”
The team is playing without big man Bobby Brackett, who suffered an Achilles injury that will keep him off the court for the summer. Without Brackett the team doesn’t have as much size but they have found ways to win. When they get back to school they’ll have a new head coach at TCNJ as Matt Goldsmith takes over for Kelly Williams.
“He’s come to see us a couple times,” said Klacik, who played at Ridge High School. “He has told us his philosophy which matches up pretty well with us. We’re missing two guys who were freshmen last year who got pretty good minutes. They live a little too far away to come down and play with us.
“This helps because once we get back to school it is not a fresh start for us. We’ve been together all summer, especially having the freshmen come in and play with us, that is a big thing. It helps get them comfortable and they know everyone so it is a nice bonus.”
Klacik was the Lion’s third leading scorer last year, seeing most of his action off the bench.
“My freshman year we kind of struggled,” he said. “Last year we came together and played the style we like to play. We played hard defense and slowed teams up.”
This summer the team has looked like it has the parts to be a successful team once the regular season gets going in November.
In other games on Monday night, Ivy Inn topped Dr. Palmer, 46-33, as Tommy Soulias had 19 points and Eamon Cuddy added eight. Larry Upshur and Gary Wilson each has 11 in the loss. King’s Pizzarama topped Princeton Youth Sports, 48-46, as Matt Johnson led the way with 10 points. Matt Hart has 14 in the loss.
On Wednesday night, Matt Rubayo and James Smith each scored 16 points as Belle Mead Physical Therapy topped Princeton Pi, 77-54. Zavon Johnson had 23 points in the loss. Bring Me Food rallied to top Aria Health, 71-68, as Bert McCallam and Davon Black hit 3s in the closing minute. DeQuan Holman and Vince Anfield had 21 points each in the win. Chase Kumor had 24 points in the loss. Winberie’s topped PYS, 84-52, as Chris Hatchell finished with 24 points and Chris Edwards added 18. Michael Dowers had 18 points in the loss for PYS.
In earlier games this season, Bring Me Food topped Belle Mead Physical Therapy, 76-60, as Nick Davidson had 19 points, Black scored 14, Lior Levy had 12, Holman 11 and Anfield 10. For BMPT, James Smith had 23 points, Jalen Parham 11 and Nigel Herbert 10. Ivy Inn got past Aria Health, 40-27, as Sherm Brittingham scored 18. Steve Ciotti had nine in the loss. Winberie’s topped Princeton Pi, 56-45, as Terrance Bailey scored 14 and Kurt Simmons added 11. Juwan Harrison had 18 and Johnson 14 in the loss.
Bailey scored 19 points and Kris O’Connor added 14 as Winberie’s topped King’s Pizzarama, 63-54. Anthony Gaffney scored 18 points and Justin Leith added 12 in the loss for King’s Pizzarama. In other games that night, Johnson scored 21 points and Harrison added 19 as Princeton Pi rallied for a 67-64 win over Aria Health. Jesse Krasna and Harrison Dunne-Polite scored 16 points apiece in the loss. Gary Wilson scored 16 points to lead Dr. Palmer to a 50-30 win over Princeton Youth Sports. Matt Hart scored 11 points for PYS.
In the opening week of action, SAT Smart/Princeton Soup & Sandwich topped Dr. Palmer, 58-48, as Eric Murdoch scored 16 points, Kevin Johnson had 12 and Darrien Pinkman added 10. Wilson had 13, Alex Miller 12 and Stephen Rodgers 11 in the loss. Aria Health topped Winberie’s, 49-46, as eight different players scored in a balanced attack. Hatchell scored 11 points to lead Winberie’s. Davidson scored 26 points to lead Bring Me Food to a 55-34 win over PYS. Alex Filion led PYS with eight points.
PYS topped Princeton Pi, 50-43, in overtime as Hart led the way with 19 points. Harrison had 22 and Johnson added 14 in the loss. Ivy Inn topped King’s Pizzarams, 49-36, as Soulias scored 17 points and Mark Aziz added 12. Matt Johnson had 10 points in the loss. Belle Mead Physical Therapy topped Dr. Palmer, 50-34, as Dan Reilly. Jim Reilly and Matt Johnston scored 10 points apiece, Mika Palmer had 10 points in the loss.
