By Obinna Agbor
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – The Camden County College men’s basketball team defeated Bergen Community College 71-62 at home Dec. 3.
The Cougars and the visiting Bulldogs played a captivating match-up in CCC’s Papiano Gymnasium, although many fouls were called and many turnovers were committed in the first and second quarters.
Despite the fouls in the first quarter, the Cougars held their ground and played an aggressive offense and flawless defense. The team started the quarter slowly, but with the help of Raheim Burnett, Andre Allen, Anthony Jackson and Ja’vier Worthy, the offense picked up the pace. Burnett controlled the ball at the point while Allen ran the small forward position.
The Cougars moved out to a 33-28 lead and kept widening the difference by executing plays with minimal mistakes and shooting from the three-point line.
“I don’t think I played the best I could. I had a lot of turnovers the last few minutes,” Burnett said at halftime.
At the start of the second half, Worthy came out strong. He put up 24 points.
The Cougars were up by 10, but then the Bulldogs attempted a comeback in the last minute. Camden County struggled the last minute on offense, giving Bergen a chance to close the deficit to four points. The Cougars switched players, improved the tempo on defense and offense, figured out the Bulldogs’ press and began knocking down shots.
Jackson had 11 points and eight rebounds, Allen had 10 points, Justin Williams had seven points, and Austin Goodluck had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Burnett said he intended to correct his mistakes for the next game against Passaic County Community College on Dec. 8 by watching film of the game, studying playbooks and listening to what Coach Lou Abbattista tells him.
The coach said he thought his team played a good game, especially on defense, but said his players could have shot more at the end.
Camden County College plays Bergen Community College in the Papiano Gymnasium. By Obinna Agbor, CCC Journalism Program