By Deidra Marbley
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – The Camden County College men’s basketball team lost to Brookdale Community College 97-74 on Nov. 14.
Cougars’ co-captain Emmanuel Abimbola scored 11 points and captain Justin Williams scored seven points in the defeat, which brought the team’s season record to 2-4. The Cougars and Jersey Blues played before about 100 people in the Papiano Gymnasium.
Abimbola, a London resident who plans to go to a four-year college to study sports management or marketing, said he tries to keep the team motivated after a big loss. “We tell them to keep their heads up, focus on the next game, bring energy to the next practice, we have 24 more games after this, we have to play harder,” Abimbola stated.
The Cougars fell behind by seven points in the first 10 minutes of the game but came back to tie the score at 23-23. By the end of the first half, they were down by 12. Several times, the referees warned Head Coach Lou Abbattista, whose birthday was that day, to calm down.
“I think every game is important when you have a very young team, just to build confidence,” Abbattista said. “Brookdale is historically the best team in the league or right up there. We lost to them in the finals last year.”
Williams, a Voorhees resident who played for Eastern High School and plans to go to a four-year college to study psychology and business, said he enrolled at Camden County College because of the coach. “He came to a couple of my high school games,” Williams stated. “I was under-recruited in high school and he told me a lot of positive things and he knows all his stuff and I liked his offense and program.”
Cougars huddle up in their pre-game hype session Nov. 14. By Deidra Marbley, CCC Journalism Program