Manchester senior L.J. Robinson got to watch two of his teammates celebrate scoring their 1,000th career point last year and after waiting a game longer than he might have liked, the 6-5 southpaw swingman had his moment in front of the home crowd on Friday night.

Robinson drilled a three-pointer from the left wing with just under five minutes left in the second quarter to reach the 1,000-point plateau and finished with 25 points to lead the Hawks to a critical 57-43 win over Barnegat. Robinson is the first boys Shore Conference player to reach the 1,000-point mark this season.

Manchester senior L.J. Robinson scored his 1,000th point on Friday. (Photo by Matt Manley)
Manchester senior L.J. Robinson scored his 1,000th point on Friday. (Photo by Matt Manley)
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With his 25 points, Robinson now has 1,014 for his career after entering the game 11 shy of the milestone. He also chipped in seven rebounds and four assists for Manchester.

Last year, both Jordan Torney and Shavar Reynolds reached 1,000 points during their seniors seasons. Robinson burst on the scene as a sophomore and emerged alongside Torney and Reynolds as a top scoring threat for the Hawks last year, when he averaged a shade over 16 points per game.

This season, Robinson is averaging 18.5 points per game, which is the sixth-best mark in the Shore Conference.

Robinson entered Saturday 33 points short of 1,000 points, but scored below his season average against both South Brunswick on Saturday and Lakewood on Tuesday.

With Friday's win, Manchester still has an outside shot to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament if the Hawks can update their schedule with a pair of games by the cutoff date on Saturday. Manchester already has divisional games scheduled against both Jackson Liberty and Pinelands, but would need two more wins to reach the requisite .500 winning percentage by Saturday.

 

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