By Dan Conners
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – The Camden County College men’s basketball team is eight games through its 23-game season and has a record of 6-2. The Camden County College Cougars’ next game is against Gloucester County College who, in their first game of the season, handed them one of their two losses by a margin of 70-56.
Head Coach Lou Abbattista says, “This next game is a big one, GCC beat us pretty good last time and we need to show up ready to play.” Abbattista thinks the Cougars’ chances are much better this time around considering their record of 3-7. “No team can be taken lightly,” says Abbattista. “We’ve been on a good run here and I’m really liking how the team looks. We’ve got a good shot at winning this game but we need to play hard, like I said no team can be taken lightly.”
The Cougars have won 4 of their last 5 games, their one loss being to a 7-0 Brookdale Community College by a margin of 83-70. The Cougars’ leading scorer, forward John Chesmond, looks to have yet another big game. “It should be a great game, they got us good last time around but we’re gonna come out swinging for sure,” Chesmond says. Chesmond is a sophomore out of Triton High School and towers over the competition at 6’7”. Chesmond has 122 points through eight games and averages just over 15 points per game.
Timothy McDaniels is second in line when it comes to scoring with a total of 112 points in eight games. He averages 14 points per game. Says McDaniels, “I think we have a great shot at beating this team. We’ve got something special going here through the past five games or so, and there’s no doubt in my mind that we can beat Gloucester, we just have to execute.”
The Cougars are only a third of the way through their 23-game season and know that there is a long road to travel. “It’s a long season, we’ve got 15 games to play, and that’s a lot of basketball. We just have to take it one game at a time,” says Assistant Coach Bob Wright. Clearly the Cougars have their work cut out for them; their next big challenge will be against the league-leading Brookdale Community College Jersey Blues. “That will really be the best way to measure the character of our team. Going up against the best team in the league will show us what we’re made of,” says Wright.