City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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Gwynedd-Mercy University played home to the Coaches vs. Cancer tripleheader on Saturday, with a trio of Division III contests comprising an exciting afternoon of hoops.

Here’s a brief recap of each game, which will update as the day goes on:

Neumann uses balanced effort to top Valley Forge
From the opening tip, the third leg of the Coaches vs. Cancer tripleheader was a one-sided affair.

The Neumann Knights took the lead with 17:42 remaining in the first half and never looked back as they topped the Valley Forge Patriots by a score of 87-58.

Leading the Knights valiant effort was sophomore guard Kenny Wilson, who came into the game averaging just 5.7 points per game while seeing 16 minutes of playing time per contest.

That all changed on Saturday as the Chester (Pa.) native filled up the stat sheet, lighting up Valley Forge for 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and also adding in 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

“Kenny was able to have some opportunities to drive the basketball well and he’s athletic enough to get to the rim and utilize his athleticism,” Neumann University coach Jim Rullo said. “So it was a nice coming out party for him.”

Wilson’s effort didn’t go unaided, though, as three of his teammates also had huge scoring nights. DeShawn Lowman (19 points), Darian Barnes (12 points), and Carl Wallace (11 points) all also hit for double digits for the victors.

While their scoring has been a huge strong point for Neumann this year, averaging just under 103 points per contest, it’s their defense that has been most impressive. After leading their conference in field goal percentage defense last year, they are on pace to do the same again, holding opponents to under 40% from the field.

“That’s something where if we want to be successful, that’s the attention to detail that’s required for us to demonstrate that ability to shut teams down,” Rullo said. “ Sometimes, the ball is going to go in, but I think that’s been our staple since I’ve been here is that we take pride in that field goal percentage defense and keeping teams under 40 percent.”

Holding true to their staple, the Knights did the same on Saturday, holding Valley Forge to just 22-for-62 (35.5%) from the field and 6-for-17 (35.3%) from beyond the arc.

This outcome brings Valley Forge to 1-3 on the season, while bringing Neumann’s record to 4-0. On top of their defense, the Knights have seven players averaging in double figures, which has been a huge contributor to their undefeated record. Lowman (21.5 ppg), James Butler (18.5 ppg), Wallace (13.3 ppg), Billy Cassidy (13.0 ppg), Wilson (11.5 ppg), Tyaire Hudson (11.5 ppg) and Barnes (11.3 ppg) are all scoring at a rapid rate for the fifth highest scoring offense in Division III basketball.

“I think what makes our team this early in the season pretty difficult to prepare is we have like six guys averaging double figures and you don’t know what the opponent is going to game plan for,” Rullo said. “If they’re going to take away our forwards, then it’s going to open up opportunities for our guards and that’s what took place tonight.” -- Will Slover

Griffins defend home court, down Baruch
Gwynedd-Mercy’s top three of sophomore guard Rip Engel and senior forwards Cedric Elleby and Arron Goodman present a tough matchup for most Division III programs.

When the Griffins are getting scoring from someone other than that trio, they’re downright dangerous.

Against visiting Baruch College, Engel, Elleby and Goodman got theirs, but it was outings from Matt Sommers and Courtney Cubbage that made head coach John Baron feel extra-good as Gwynedd-Mercy downed the Bearcats 91-73 in the second of three games.

Engel (22 points), Goodman (21 points) and Elleby (16 points, eight rebounds) still had an enormous impact on the win, with Sommers (13 points) and Cubbage (11 points) giving the team five players in double figures for the first time all year.

Through the team’s first two games of the season, that trio of scorers averaged a combined 60 points per contest, but nobody else averaged more than Cubbage’s 6.5 ppg; he was the only other player to get more than a total of 10 points in those two contests.

But Sommers showed that Saturday’s outing would be different, as the 6-1 guard out of Holy Spirit (N.J.) had 10 points in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting. His scoring total for the game was just three points shy of what he scored his entire freshman season.

“We know Sommers can stretch the floor, so we know he can score; Courtney’s just an active rebounding type of guy, and really we have some role players that are really good that  might not show up in the box score,” Baron said. “When we have five guys in double figures, we’re probably going to win a lot of games if that continuously happens.”

The win keeps Gwynedd-Mercy (3-0) undefeated on the young season, a nice start for a program that graduated four key seniors from last year’s 22-win squad, including all-league players in Darnell Artis and Julian Hyden. Engel (23.7 ppg) has slid right into a starring role, while Elleby (18.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg) and Goodman (18.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg) give Baron one of the more imposing frontcourts around.

“We knew we had a chance to be decent, but we’re meshing seven returners with seven new guys,” Baron said. “When you have five guys (in double figures) and you still have Cedric scoring 19, and Goody who could score 20 at any time...it definitely makes life easier for me, no doubt.” -- Josh Verlin

Rowan comes back for fourth straight win
To Rowan, a double-digit deficit in the second half might as well be only a point or two.

With the way the team plays, a full-court zone press on defense leading way to a free-flowing, drive-and-kick offensive style, the Profs have no qualms about their ability to close a gap -- and do so in a hurry.

“Coach (Joe Crispin) tell us all the time, we’re down by 12, that’s nothing,” senior forward Shawn Wilson said. “Eight minutes left, that’s nothing. A couple of shots, and we’re back in the game.”

The deficit against Rosemont only reached 11 in the second half, and after a quick run by Rowan evened the teams up, several big shots by Wilson and sophomore Nick DePersia did the trick down the stretch to lift the Profs to a 99-94 win.

It was a 10-point Ravens lead with 10:36 to play when the Rowan push began, a 10-2 run cutting it to 79-77 on a 3-pointer by Joey Montalvo with 7:40 remaining.

The Profs took the lead back for the first time with 3:27 left on a layup by DePersia; the 6-foot guard then came up with two huge triples, one with 1:22 remaining to tie the game at 92-92, and then, after two foul shots by Rosemont’s Kyle Lafferty, one from the right corner to put his team up one with 50 seconds to play.

Though Wilson is a senior and the team’s leading scorer (24.6 ppg), he had no problem deferring in those big moments.

“I’m the one that tells him to shoot,” Wilson said. “Besides the coach, I’m the second person that’s telling him, when you make a move, shoot it, because nobody can guard you.”

It was officially the fourth consecutive win for Rowan (4-1), though the Profs had taken a 108-46 beating at the hands of Princeton in an exhibition loss the night before.

DePersia finished with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, Wilson with 23 points and seven rebounds. Rob DePersia, Nick’s twin brother, added eight points and five assists.

Rosemont (2-2) was paced by 18-point outings from Lafferty and his fellow senior wing Khai Roberts; Clayton Wolfe had 10 points, five rebounds and nine assists.

The DePersia twins, both Haddonfield Memorial products, are off to terrific starts in their sophomore years for Rowan; Nick is averaging 15.8 ppg and 3.6 apg, while Rob is at 13.6 ppg and 5.0 apg.

“They’re so much better at this point in the year than they were last year just from a confidence, ownership standpoint, they know what’s coming,” said Crispin, the former Penn State standout and Rowan assistant who took over for former head coach Joe Cassidy in May. “Between them and Shawn Wilson offensively, it creates so many things for themselves and their teammates. If you get enough space on the court it’s tough to stop.” -- Josh Verlin