By Essence Money
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – The Camden County College men’s basketball team showed no mercy to Community College of Philadelphia as the Cougars beat CCP 82-73 at home Dec. 3. The win was CCC’s fifth straight and gave the Cougars a 5-1 record.
Braxton Watson (10), Shakoor Woodson (20), Joshua Smith (30) and Shaun Russel (15) all play lockdown defense for Camden County College during the second half of the Dec. 3 game against Community College of Philadelphia. By Essence Money, CCC Journalism Program
Philadelphia is home to some of the men on the CCC team, such as De’Andre Williams, 18, and Deonte West, 19, both from West Philadelphia.
Going into the game, Williams stated, “This should be a fun game because I’m playing against a Philadelphia team and I’m from Philadelphia.”
As to whether he felt any pressure going into the game against a team from his hometown, West responded, “We are going against a good team today but we have the upper hand because we are on a 4-game winning streak. I don’t feel any pressure. It actually makes me want to play harder.”
At halftime, CCP had a 37-32 lead. Although the game was not over, fans became anxious but not enough to give up hope.
“I’m actually from (Philadelphia) myself so it’s very intense for me to watch. The (CCC) men are playing vigorously. I believe they can and will pull through with a win,” stated Mere’line Green, a student and fan of the CCC team.
After halftime, the men had even more motivation to come back strong enough for the win.
“When we entered halftime, Coach Lou (Abbattista) said all we need to do is make stops and crash the boards, so coming into the second half that was the only thing on our minds,” explained West.
The men fought tooth and nail to regain the lead, ultimately winning the game.
Braxton Watson led the team with 23 points.
“It was a good team win after coming back from a 5-point deficit at the half. We made the extra passes and hit the shots we needed,” West explained.
“This was a fun and competitive game,” Williams stated.
As for the team’s plans to keep the winning streak going, West stated, “The goal is to keep playing together as a team. At this rate, we can continue our winning streak.”