Week two of the second inaugural Star Ledger

College Player

Summer Basketball League was wrapped around the Fourth of July holiday,

and

there were plenty of fireworks on display at the Barn.

class="" style="">

class="">Games were held Sunday July 1st, Monday July

2nd, and Thursday July 5^th, and featured

action-packed double

headers each night.

Typically the Barn

is

about as hot a place as you can find in New Jersey on any given night,

but for

whatever reason (most likely the fan I was sitting in front of), the

heat

didn’t seem to bother the crowd, as an estimated 100 or more

spectators were

on-hand taking in the action on any given evening.

class="" style="">

class="">For their efforts, they were rewarded with

some superior games and some even more impressive individual efforts.

class="">

Sunday night saw the lion’s share of the Rutgers roster in

action, as AXA Advisors, the team that features JR Inman, Hamady

N’Diaye, and

Justin Sofman, in addition to a pair of rumored Rutgers

walk-ons, took to the hardcourt to battle Nelligan Sports Marketing, a

team

with no RU connection, in game 1.

style=""> In

a

low scoring affair, AXA bested Nelligan easily, 67-50.

class="" style="">

class="">The Rutgers

guys showed very well.

JR Inman led all

scorers with 22 points, and teammates N’Diaye and Sofman

tuned up the glass,

notching 14 and 13 rebounds respectively.

style="">

Inman also crashed the boards

for 10 rebounds himself, picking up a

double-double for his efforts.

style=""> Nelligan

may have lost the game, but undecided big man Haimdu Rahman led all

players

with an astounding 17 boards.

style=""> Nelligan

was led in scoring by NJIT’s Justin Garris with 12 points.

class="">

Game 2 Sunday evening was another one to watch for Rutgers

hoop heads, as league leading Scarlet Fever, led by Rutgers incumbent

point

guard Anthony Farmer, took on Suydam Insurance, led by the Fab 5 of

Corey

Chandler, Earl Pettis, Mike Coburn, Jaron Griffin, and Byron Joynes.

class="" style="">

class="">In an outcome that was a mild surprise,

Scarlet Fever handled Suydam fairly easily 103-85.

class="" style="">

class="">Farmer played a steady floor game, but had an

off night shooting, as he posted 6 assists and 3 steals, but popped for

just 8

points.

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w:st="on">Chandler

and Coburn also had off nights, as they posted just 11 and 15 points

respectively.

The star of the evening

for Sudyam was Jaron Griffin, who continued his improved play with a 21

point,

9 rebound effort in the loss.

style="">Scarlet

Fever rode their

w:st="on">Norfolk

w:st="on">State

connection to the

win.

Guards Corey Lyons and Tony

Murphy

continued their fine play with 25 and 22 points respectively.

class="" style="">

class="">And former Seton Hall standout John Allen

also made his presence known for the first time this summer, picking up

17

points and 6 rebounds on the way to the win.

class="" style="">

class="">

Because of the Fourth

of July holiday, Tuesday’s games were moved up to Monday

evening.

For those looking for a taste

of the future

of Rutgers

basketball, this probably wasn’t

the night for you to visit the Barn.

style="">

The evening’s games

featured just 1 Rutgers

player in Courtney Nelson, as Anthony Farmer (Scarlet Fever) had a

class

conflict.

What the games lacked in RU

star power, they certainly didn’t lack in quality.

class="" style="">

class="">D’Annunzio & Sons picked up its

first

victory of the season, besting the Nelson led Bignell Planning squad by

a

single point, 66-65.

Nelson did manage

16 points, but came up empty most of the night, going 5-19 from the

field, and

0-8 from 3 point range.

D’Annunzio &

Sons were the beneficiaries of a couple of noteworthy performances on

their way

to the win.

FDU’s Eric Moore

never saw a

shot he didn’t like, as he led the effort with 21 points,

while Penn’s Darren

Smith notched 12 in a supporting role.

style="">Bignell

had some superlatives as well, as

FDU’s Bernell Murray led all scorers with 23 and

Wagner’s James Ulrich posted a

remarkable 18 boards in the defeat.

The second game Monday was another hotly contested affair,

as Nelligan Sports Marketing knocked the Farmer-less Scarlet Fever from

the

ranks of the unbeaten with a 74-67 victory. Nelligan rebounded from the

previous night’s loss to AXA with a trio of superior

performances from its

roster.

NJIT’s Gary Garris

continued his

high level of play, leading all scorers with 23 points and added 9

rebounds.

Center Haimdu Rahman made

people wonder again why he has yet to choose a college destination as

he posted

a double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds.

class="" style="">

w:st="on">Rhode Island’s

Terrence Greer was a shade shy of a TRIPLE double, as he lined up 10

points, 9

rebounds and 9 assists in the winning effort.

class="" style="">

Scarlet Fever really felt the

absence of Anthony Farmer as it struggled

late in the game to score.

NSU’s Tony Murphy

also soldiered on with his high level of performance, kicking in 12

points, 7

boards and 3 assists in Farmer’s stead.

class="" style="">

Blue collar big man Nesho

Milosevic led the effort on the glass for

Fever, leading the team with 11 rebounds.

While many were still on vacation, the Barn heated up again

on Thursday evening for the week’s final set of games.

class="" style="">

class="">In game one, the Rutgers connections were

back in action, as Suydam Insurance battled Bignell Planning in a game

featuring 60 percent of the current Rutgers

roster, with Suydam prevailing in a close contest by a 84-79 score.

class="" style="">

class="">Returning RU junior guard Courtney Nelson

paced the upset minded Bignell attack with a whopping 30 points and 10

assists

for his first double-double of the summer.

style="">

But Nelson wasn’t a

one man band all night, as Wagner’s athletic forward

Durrell Vinson picked up 13 rebounds, and Holy Cross’ Andrew

Keister posted a

double-double of his own, 16 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

class="" style="">

class="">For Suydam Insurance, 4 of the 5

w:st="on">Rutgers players on the team

dominated the show.

Mike Coburn led in scoring

with 19 points,

but also added a team high 8 assists.

style="">

Not to be outdone, Corey

Chandler provided yet another stellar display

of his amazing talents, shaking and baking his way to 18 points, 7

boards and 5

assists.

However, the good news

doesn’t

stop there for Rutgers

fans.

Byron Joynes continued his

return to form

with a double-double of his own (13 points and 10 rebounds), and Jaron

Griffin

also contributed nicely with his 15 points and 9 rebounds.

class="" style="">

class="">The odd man out seemed to be Earl Pettis, who

is obviously still finding his way.

The nightcap saw AXA Advisors take down a shorthanded

D’Annunzio & Sons squad 80-70.

class="" style="">

class="" style="">

class="">An all around team effort was put forth by

AXA, which was led in scoring by William and Mary’s Adam

Payton, who posted

19.

class="">Hamady N’Diaye had his best game of

the summer so far and generated a double-double, 10 points and 12

rebounds, for

his efforts.

Hamady was also a beast on

defense, as he sent back 7 D’Annunzio shots.

class="" style="">

Not to be overlooked was the

play of JR Inman, who himself notched yet

another double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds.

class="" style="">

class="">For D’Annunzio, Penn’s Darren

Smith again put

on a clinic, scoring a stellar 29 points.

style="">

I have to admit, to my eyes,

Smith is the most gifted shooter in this

league.

Awkward release not

withstanding, everything Smith shoots seems to find the bottom of the

net in a

hurry.

FDU’s Eric Moore and

Middlesex

CC’s Hensley Charles also had fine games in the losing effort.

class="">

So, following play Thursday July 5, the league standings

were as follows:

class="">NELLIGAN SPORTS MARKETING 3-1

SCARLET FEVER

3-1

AXA ADVISORS

2-2

SUYDAM INSURANCE

2-2

D’ANNUNZIO & SONS

style="">

1-3

BIGNELL PLANNING

1-3

class="">As an added feature this week, a league

representative has

passed along his thoughts on some outstanding performers for the week

gone by….

AXA Advisors:

Adam Payton of William & Mary put together a solid week for the

now 2-2 AXA

Advisors. In two games, he had 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

class="" style="">

class="">Payton also created the clear highlight of

the week when he threw down the most vicious slam dunk in the

league’s young

history.

Taking off from just inside

the

free throw line, Payton elevated and finished a one-handed dunk for the

ages.

style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">

class="">

Suydam Insurance:

class="">

On a team dominated by Rutgers guys, Mike Luzzi of

w:st="on">Caldwell

has done a good job chipping in as a

post presence.

His squad improved to 2-2

this week as he added 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists in the two

games.

His ability to be in the right

place at the right time for rebounds has taken a lot of the pressure

off of the

jump-shooting guards.

Bignell Planning:

Sean Baptiste of FDU has shown that last year’s title run

with JJS Construction

was not completely based around current Cleveland St. Viking, Cedric

Jackson.

A defending champion in his

own

right, Baptiste has exploded again out of the gate.

class="" style="">

class="">The

w:st="on">St. Joseph’s

HS (Metuchen) product had a great week,

posting 39 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals in 2 games.

class="" style="">

class="" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">

class="">

D’Annunzio &

Sons: Darren Smith of Penn may have quietly had the best

week in the league

over this holiday-altered schedule.

style=""> The

South Plainfield graduate had 42 points, 11 rebounds, and

3 assists in 2 games.

class="" style="">

class="">His 6

three-pointers on Thursday night are the most in one game so far this

summer.

style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">

class="">

Nelligan Sports

Marketing: Terrence Greer of Rhode

Island

had himself a monster week for one of the two teams without a

w:st="on">Rutgers

player.

The Cranford native posted 20

points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals in 2 games this

week—as Nelligan

took first place at 3-1, holding the head-to-head over Scarlet Fever.

class="" style="">

class="" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">

class="">

Scarlet Fever: The

other 3-1 squad, Scarlet Fever, got a strong week from league

sharpshooter Tony

Murphy of Norfolk

St.

style=""> Murphy

put up 34 points, 8 rebounds, 4

assists, and 2 steals to go along with 4 three-pointers.

class="" style="">

class="">Scarlet Fever fell into a virtual tie for

first-place with Nelligan Sports Marketing, but will need to win in

their next

meeting to regain the tiebreaker.

style="">

And, in a feature you will ONLY find here on

ScarletNation.Com’s weekly Summer League recaps, I now

present to you full and

complete statistics for the participating Rutgers

players.

style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">

face="Times New Roman">There are

some great games coming up again this week, including the much awaited

rematch

from opening night of AXA Advisors and Suydam Insurance on Tuesday

evening.

Do yourself a

favor…get to the

Barn and catch some incredible college basketball!

class="" style="">

class="">Till next week….