This week, MU visits Wagner, who has all but solidified the #2 seed in the conference tournament, on Thursday and Mount on Saturday. The Hawks are playing some of their best basketball of the season as of late, winning two in a row and five of their last six. The Hawks are 7-7 in the league right now and are currently in a three-way tie for sixth with Sacred Heart and CCSU, who the Hawks both hold tiebreakers with.

On Thursday Monmouth will try to snap the Seahawks six-game winning streak at the Spiro Sports Center. Wagner is a league-best 21-4 overall and boasts a NEC-best RPI of 73. Thursday night will be a raucous environment in Staten Island and should be a good game. Last time the two teams met on January 7, MU fell to the Seahawks, 89-79 despite 20 points from Jesse Steele.

The Hawks then take to the road on Saturday for a 7pm game at Mount St. Mary’s, a notoriously difficult place to play. The Mount could be a desperate team depending on Thursday night’s outcome as they have pretty much no room for error for the rest of the season.

Monmouth needs these two games this week against the Knights to continue to push towards the NEC Tournament. FDU has athletes who can score (mainly transfers), but has struggled, going 1-11 in conference play.

Myself and Steve Bazaz have the call for you this week on both games. Both Wednesday and Saturday’s games are at 7, with Saturday featuring a doubleheader with the women’s team, who plays at 3.

Joseph E. Gawlik, Manchester Township High School

Wednesday, February 1^st was National Letter of Intent Day and it was decision day for many members of the Shore Sports Network’s “Fabulous 44.” 

Heading up that group was tight end RYAN MORRIS of Barnegat who signed with Purdue, giving the Bengals their third Division 1 player in recent years.  Ex-Bengal tight end Jarrett Darmstatter is at Boston College while quarterback Nick San Giacomo is at Tulane.   Neptune linebacker JAZZMAR CLAX is headed to the University of Connecticut after signing with the Huskies where he’ll likely go up against Long Branch offensive lineman RYAN BRODIE, who is among the prized recruits landed by Rutgers, a Big East rival of UConn.   Also headed to FBS programs are Lacey offensive lineman TYRELL SMITH (Massachussetts) and Red Bank Catholic’s DOUG WHITLOCK(Navy).

Among other members of the SSN’s “Fab 44”:

Joe Johnson, Manchester                            (Monmouth University)

Tom Winters, Brick                           (Monmouth University)

John Sieczkowski, Manalapan                    (Monmouth University)

Larry Austin III, Matawan                (Old Dominion)

Chris Donald, Red Bank Catholic     (Old Dominion)

Jaheem Woods, Neptune                            (Stony Brook)

Ra’Zahn Howard, Asbury Park                 (Towson)

Steve Cluley, Wall                                      (William & Mary)

Matt Ford, Wall                                (Lehigh)

Anthony Carlucci, SJ Vianney                   (Franklin & Marshall)

Matt Jewell, Rumson                        (Williams College)

Kevin Williams

Coming off a 5-6 season in which defense was their main problem Monmouth University football coach Kevin Callahan believes he addressed specific needs with the addition of 21 student-athletes to the Hawks program.  Nine of the incoming players are defensive linemen and linebackers which should help bolster a defense which allowed 40 points in each of Monmouth’s final three games of the 2011 season.

The new class includes defensive back JOE JOHNSON of Manchester who was the Shore Sports Network’s Ocean County Defensive Player of the Year.  Among other members of the SSN’s “Fabulous 44” who signed letters of intent with Monmouth were Red Bank Catholic defensive lineman JACK EISTESTADT,  Brick Township linebacker TOM WINTERS and linebacker JOHN SIECZKOWSKI of Manalapan.

The 2012 recruiting class includes three mid-year enrollees, among them DIMITRIUS SMITH a 2011 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School.  Smith spent this past fall at Milford Academy Prep School and is from an athletic family as brother J.R. plays pro basketball and brother Chris is a senior basketball player at Louisville.

MU comes into league play against the Blue Devils on Thursday at 2-6 in the NEC and in a tie with Mount St. Mary’s (Monmouth holds the head-to-head tiebreaker right now) for ninth place in the standings, one game out of the tournament hunt. CCSU, led by the trio of Ken Horton (who is last season’s NEC Player of the Year), Robby Ptacek and Kyle Vinales, is one of the league’s surprises this season. The Blue Devils sit at 6-2 in the conference and in a four-way tie for second with Wagner, Robert Morris and equally-surprising St. Francis (NY). CCSU isn’t great at any one thing, but they are really good at winning close games and sport probably the best trio of scorers any one team boasts in the NEC. CCSU is very good at home, going 7-1 at Detrick Gym overall 4-0 in the league.

MU visits Bryant, which is right outside of Providence, on Saturday. The Bulldogs are in their final season of transitioning to Division I and will be eligible for postseason play next year after moving up from D2 a few seasons ago. Bryant is 2-18 overall and 1-7 in the league with wins this season over UC-Davis and Saint Francis (PA). Alex Francis leads Bryant in scoring at 17.0 points per game, while Corey Maynard and Frankie Dobbs also average in double figures. Opponents are outrebounding BU  by an average of seven caroms per game the Bulldogs give up over 75 points per game.

Should be an interesting pair of games this week, we’ll see if MU can turn around its road fortunes. Myself and Matt Harmon have the call of both games for you.

1st Half

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2nd Half

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Segment 1

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Segment 2

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On Saturday, MU welcomes Robert Morris to the MAC. The Colonials are led by Andy Toole, a local guy who also happens to be the youngest coach in the nation (don’t let his age fool you though, Toole is an excellent communicator and instructor and his RMU team is among the toughest and best in the league). Long story short, MU needs to win tonight against SFU. Not to sound like a coach too much, but all games are must win. It’s just that Thursday’s game really is.

tomsrivershooters/flickr

If you’re a basketball fan then you might want to check out the Toms River Shooters, the newest entry into the 13-team Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League. The league is made up of teams from Buffalo, New York to Maryland who play a 15-game regular season schedule from December-March.

The Toms River team is made up of former high school and college standouts that are familiar to many shore area basketball fans. Among them are Randall Stallworth, who played at Monsignor Donovan and then Stonehill College and Mike Konopka, who went from Toms River East to Stonybrook and is now back as the Raiders head coach. Others are on the roster include Tony Boone, Jed Marquez, Kenny Simms, Jordan Krzeckowski, Jeff Warner and Blake Hamilton.

The Shooters play their home games in the brand new Baker League Basketball Arena which is located in South Toms River and part of the complex that now includes Planet Fitness. The team has played their first few games on the road and their home opener is scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday (February 5) with a 1pm tipoff against the Hudson Valley Kingz. To help welcome them I have agreed to serve as the Public Address Announcer…let’s hope we don’t get four overtimes or I’ll be out of their before it ends. After all, it is Super Bowl Sunday! The game will also feature a half time raffle for a big screen TV and a 50/50 to benefit Ocean of Love at the end of the 3rd quarter.

For more on the Toms River Shooters visit TomsRiverShooters.com or call (848) 480-2877.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE GAME FLYER!

Harmon is best known for his work on the Shore Sports Network’s high school football and basketball broadcasts along with Monmouth University football and basketball. A 1996 graduate of Monmouth, Harmon also does work for MSG Varsity, the Northeast Conference and Pack Network, broadcasting many different high school and college sporting events.

He joined the Shore Sports Network in 1998 and since then has teamed up with Kevin Williams and Ed Sarluca on game broadcasts on 105.7 The Hawk in addition to WOBM AM 1160/1310. The trio also hosts the popular “Barnabas Health High School Football Show” during the fall and Harmon co-hosts the Monmouth Football Coaches Show with Kevin Callahan.

A full-time faculty member in the Monmouth Communications Department, Harmon and his wife Megan live in Wall with their boys….Daniel, Cooper and Luke.

Gregg Lerner, formerly of the Star Ledger (now at MSG Varsity) was named New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year. Matt and Gregg will be honored at the 53rd Annual NSSA Awards Banquet on June 11, 2012 in Salisbury, North Carolina. Also being saluted will be National Sportscaster of the Year Dan Schulman of ESPN and National Sportswriter of the Year Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated while Bob Costas of NBC Sports and John Feinstein of the Washington Post will be inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.