By, Stephen Glassman
A pair of Salem Community College sophomores—forward Tyrea Williams (20 points) and guard Aaron Henry (18 off the bench) helped the Oaks (14-10, 8-5 Region XIX Division II) narrowly defeated the Manor College Blue Jays (10-11, 5-6), 91-87. Manor’s starting sophomore guards Mark Perez (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic) and Avery Brown (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored 31 and 24 points, respectively, in defeat. The Blue Jays’ loss broke a three-game winning streak.
Perez was responsible for most of Manor’s early scoring, contributing 17 of its first 21 points. Fifteen of the 17 were on five three-point baskets. The Blue Jays took its last lead of the first half, 18-16, on a Perez three-point basket with 13:52 left. Salem answered and retook the lead with 13:40 remaining on freshman forward Eric Cotton’s three-point basket. Following Perez’ fifth three-point basket of the first half at 12:59, Salem freshman forward Ramon Shy’s jumper gave the Oaks a 23-21 lead with 12:19 remaining. The Oaks would hold this lead for the remainder of the first half and deep into the second. Including Shy’s points, Salem scored 13 straight before Brown’s jumper with 9:32 left stopped the streak. Consecutive baskets by freshman forward La’Trea Lee (9:05) and Terrell Grobes (8:46) increased Salem’s lead to 15 with 8:46 left. Henry scored consecutive three-point baskets (5:41 and 4:46) that put the Oaks’ lead back again to 15 (46-31). Manor closed the gap to nine on a 10-4 run that cumulated with Perez’ layup with 32.6 seconds remaining in the half. Salem led at halftime, 50-41.
The Oaks got back to another double-digit lead (56-45) with 16:12 left in the game on Williams’ slam dunk. The Blue Jays came out of the time out on 16-5 run that tied game at 61 on Perez’ layup and free throw with 9:41 remaining. Salem responded and retook the lead, 64-61, on sophomore guard’s Daren Alexander layup (off of a missed shot) and free throw with 9:25 left. Manor freshman forward Jamier Hughes’ (Philadelphia, PA/Cross Keys) jumper off a Brown missed three-point attempt gave Manor its first lead since the first half, 65-64, with 8:16 remaining. After a Perez free throw extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 66-64 with 7:45 left, Grobes’ jumper (7:34) gave Salem the lead they would not relinquish. Consecutive three-point baskets again by Henry (6:59 and 6:36) increased the Oaks’ lead to six (72-66) forcing the Blue Jays to take a time out. Between 6:59 and 2:02 of the second half, Henry and Williams combined for Salem’s next 18 points. Shy’s free throws gave Salem a nine-point lead, 86-77, with 1:31 left. Hughes’ three-point baskets (1:23 and 54.5 seconds) and slam dunk off a steal with 23.5 capped off an 8-0 run that closed Salem’s lead to one, 86-85. After free throws by sophomore guard Andre Smith (21.4) and Williams (19.3), Perez’ layup with 11.3 seconds remaining closed the Salem’s lead back again to one at 88-87. After a pair of free throws by Smith (10.1), Perez missed on a three-point attempt and Hughes was unable to convert on his offensive rebound. Williams closed out Salem’s scoring on a free throw with 0.3 left in the game.
Manor is 6-4 at home with a pair of games remaining. The Blue Jays’ next game will be against the Raritan Valley Community College Golden Lions (16-4, 10-2) 7:00 p.m. Thursday February 6. Manor previously defeated Raritan Valley, 94-82, in Branchburg, NJ on December 7, 2013.