Matawan Outlasts Neptune in Double Overtime to Give Head Coach Tom Stead His 300th Win

NEPTUNE - Coming into this season, the main question mark surrounding Matawan was how much the three new starters around star guards Jason Dunne and Joe Piscopo would be able to contribute or whether those two would have to do all the heavy lifting in big games.

It took 40 minutes of pulse-pounding action on the road against Neptune on Friday night, but the Huskies got their answer only one game into the season. In the process, they helped veteran head coach Tom Stead hit a major milestone with his 300th career victory at the start of his 19th season overall between stints at Holmdel, Keyport, Ridge and Matawan.

Piscopo and Dunne combined for 43 points, but several other players stepped up with crucial baskets and defensive plays down the stretch, particularly after Dunne fouled out in the first overtime. The Huskies, ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Network preseason Top 10, outlasted the No. 8 Scarlet Fliers 64-63 in double overtime after being down by 11 points at halftime and 12 points with five minutes left in regulation for a big Class B North win. Piscopo poured in a game-high 24 points to lead the defending division champions, including a 4-for-8 performance from behind the arc, and Dunne added 19 points, but the supporting cast helped them get to the finish line.

"I said to them that there were a lot of question marks coming in here tonight, and now we're walking out of this gym after a double-overtime win on the road  with our star out of the game, and not so many question marks,'' Stead said.

Junior forward Mergim Gjyriqi had a career-high 11 points and five rebounds, with all of his points coming after halftime, including the game-winning free throw and a 7-for-8 showing from the foul line between the fourth quarter and the two overtimes. Six-foot-6 senior center Samson Ore-Onitolo chipped in with five points, all of them in overtime, senior forward Nick Smith came off the bench to make some big plays on both sides of the floor in overtime, and senior forward Matt Esposito took three charges on defense.

"People were doubting if they could even step on a varsity court, and tonight to play like they did in overtime against Neptune was unbelievable,'' Dunne said. "We just can't praise them enough. They proved a lot of people wrong."

"We showed our toughness today,'' Gjyriqi said.

The game was a war of attrition, as 53 fouls were called and a total of six players fouled out, three from each team. Not surprisingly, free throws became a huge factor. Matawan only shot 21-for-38 in the game, but finished 16-for-23 from the stripe in the fourth quarter and overtime. Meanwhile, Neptune shot 12-for-23 from the line in the game, including 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter when Matawan roared back to tie the game.

"We gave them the game,'' said new Neptune coach Joe Fagan, who took over after Hall of Famer Ken O'Donnell was not re-hired by the Board of Education during the offseason. "You can't miss that many free throws, turn the ball over where it leads to an automatic two points, commit that many fouls and expect to win. You just can't. We clearly dictated the game most of the way."

Neptune led the entire game, holding a 26-15 lead at the break and taking a seven-point advantage into the fourth quarter before Matawan made its push behind Dunne, a University of Hartford recruit who rattled off 13 of his 19 points during the period. A 15-foot jumper by Neptune junior forward Marcque Ellington (9 points, 7 rebounds) put the Scarlet Fliers up 45-43 with 1:35 left in regulation, but Dunne hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to one. A pair of missed free throws by the Scarlet Fliers then allowed Matawan to take its first lead of the game when Dunne sliced down the lane for a lay-up and a 46-45 advantage with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we did a bad job of getting into our sets in the first half,'' Stead said. "We were trying to beat them off the dribble, and that's not how we're going to beat Neptune. We have to beat them on screens, get post touches, and kick the ball back out to our shooters. We spread them out in the second half and we got into the lane and got to the foul line early. That was huge."

"That first half was completely my fault, and I had to turn it around,'' Dunne said. "Guys believed in me, and they kept giving me the rock. In the first half I feel like we had a lot of jitters, and the second half we found out what we had to do to break their press and spread them out. They couldn't guard us off the dribble."

Neptune tied it when senior guard Royal Moore, a transfer from Ocean, hit one of two free throws with 15.5 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime knotted at 46. Moore and Dunne then both fouled out by the time there was 2:49 left in the first overtime with the score still tied at 46.

"I fouled out, but I didn't lose a single ounce of faith,'' Dunne said. "The role players really stepped up."

A putback by 6-foot-6 Neptune freshman Jared Kimbrough put Neptune up by a point early in the first overtime period, but Matawan answered right back when Ore-Onitolo sailed in for a tip-in and then Gjyriqi hit two free throws for a 52-49 lead with 17.7 seconds remaining.

However, Neptune senior guard Keishawn Kirkwood pushed the game to double overtime when he splashed home a corner 3-pointer off a sideline inbounds play with six seconds left to tie it at 52.

"They didn't question their confidence at all,'' Stead said about his team after Kirkwood's dramatic shot. "They wanted it. I saw the look in their eye in the huddle, and they kept believing even though we screwed up on a couple possessions defensively."

"Matawan never gives up,'' said Piscopo, who had 13 of his points after halftime. "Even at the beginning of the third quarter I was telling everybody that it was far from over."

In the second overtime, Matawan took the lead and never looked back, as junior Dejohn Rogers hit a free throw and Piscopo drove the lane for a 55-52 lead with 2:16 left in the game. A pair of free throws by Kimbrough cut it to a point, but the Huskies answered with a basket and foul by Ore-Onitolo off a dish by Rogers and then a pair of free throws by Ore-Onitolo after a missed three-pointer by the Scarlet Fliers.

With the Huskies holding on to a 61-57 lead, Smith helped put the game away when he heaved a baseball pass to Piscopo over Neptune's press, and Piscopo scored and was fouled for a six-point lead with 53.1 seconds left in the game.

"That is our pitcher from the baseball team,'' Piscopo said about Smith. "When he made that throw and it got over (the defender's) head, one-on-one, I had to make a play."

After a 3-pointer by senior guard Kerry Kirkwood, who led Neptune with 13 points, Gjyriqi knocked down one of two free throws with 5.6 seconds left for what turned out to be the game-winning point when Kirkwood hit one last 3-pointer for the final margin.

"As soon as Jay fouled out, we knew that someone had to pick it up, and I did it with the free throws,'' Gjyriqi said.

It added up to a big divisional win over a Scarlet Fliers team that clearly has the potential to be a major threat as the season progresses. Senior center Micah Kerr (8 points) and senior guard Sean McMillan (9 points) also chipped in for Neptune, while Kimbrough hinted at his vast upside in his first varsity game.

"We have the ballhandlers, we have the defenders, we just couldn't convert in the end,'' Fagan said. "We showed what we can do by controlling the game most of the way, but we have to have guys step up and make shots and free throws to close it out."

Matawan left with a rare victory in its history on Neptune's home floor while getting Stead into the 300-win club. On the heels of their best season in a half century in which they won a division title for the first time since 1965, reached the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and won Central Jersey Group II for their first NJSIAA sectional title since 1958, the Huskies know they are going to get everyone's best effort this season.

"It was thrilling to me because Neptune-Matawan is a great rivalry and we have never won here in our careers,'' Ore-Onitolo said. "We have been working since the summer to get ready for games like this, and it was a great team win."

Box score

Matawan 64, Neptune 63 (2 OT)

Matawan (64): Rogers 1 1-2 3, Smith 1 0-0 2, J. Dunne 5 8-12 19, Hennessey 0 0-0 0, Gjyriqi 2 7-9 11, Ore-Onitolo 2 1-5 5, Myers 0 0-0 0, Piscopo 8 4-8 24, Esposito 0 0-2 0. Totals: 19 21-38 64.

Neptune (63): Ke. Kirkwood 4 2-2 13, Kei. Kirkwood 3 1-2 8, Kerr 4 0-2 8, Dunn 1 0-0 2, McMillan 3 2-4 9, Moore 1 1-2 4, Curate 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 2-2 5, Kimbrough 1 3-4 5, Ellington 4 1-5 9, Nolan 0 0-0 0, Pettway 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 12-23 63.

Matawan (1-0, 1-0)  7  8  14  17  6  12 - 64

Neptune (0-1, 0-1)  15 11 10  10  6  11 - 63

Three-pointers: (M) Piscopo 4, J. Dunne; (N) Ke. Kirkwood 3, Kei. Kirkwood, McMillan, Moore, Brown. Fouled out: (M) J. Dunne, Ore-Onitolo, Esposito; (N) Kei. Kirkwood, Moore, McMillan.