Lakewood Avenges Loss to Long Branch to Return to SCT Semifinals

*Click here for a Lakewood-Long Branch photo gallery by Bill Normile*

LONG BRANCH - Lakewood ensured an earlier loss to Long Branch this season would become a distant memory when the Piners used a stifling defensive effort and a strong fourth quarter to pick up a 44-28 win that put the defending Shore Conference Tournament champions back into the semifinals.

Senior guard Dan Niblack had 16 points and senior center Ben Watson had 10 points to help the third-seeded Piners (21-3) avenge a regular-season loss to the Green Wave (14-7) from the Boardwalk Hoop Group Showcase. They advance to face second-seeded Christian Brothers Academy at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday in the SCT semifinals at Brick Memorial.

Senior guard Dan Niblack dropped in a game-high 16 points to help defending SCT champion Lakewood advance to the semifinals with a win over Long Branch. (Photo by Bill Normile)

The Piners shot out of the gate, zooming to a 25-5 lead with 1:54 left in the second quarter, which Long Branch cut to 25-9 at the half. The Green Wave then fought back into the game by outscoring Lakewood 12-2 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 27-21 heading into the final period.

[onescreen item="5212775"]

[onescreen item="5212774"]

Long Branch had the lead down to four points early in the fourth quarter, but Lakewood responded by outscoring the Green Wave 17-7 in the final seven minutes. Watson and Niblack combined for five points during a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 34-23 with 5:16 left in the game. Lakewood then closed it out by going 4-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch.

Sophomores Amir Tyler and Naquese Joshua both shook off offensive struggles to combine to limit one of the Shore Conference's top scorers, Long Branch senior guard Terrel Cox, to eight points. Jamar Foster led Long Branch with nine points.

Box score

(3) Lakewood 44, (6) Long Branch 28

Long Branch (28): Cox 3 1-2 8, Williams 2 1-4 6, Pennington 0 0-0 0, Foster 1 1-4 3, Irizarry 0 0-0 0, Barrow 0 0-0 0, J. Foster 4 0-0 9, Carter 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 3-10 28.

Lakewood (44): Niblack 6 3-3 16, Joshua 1 3-8 5, Barksdale 1 0-0 3, Watson 4 2-6 10, Diawara 1 3-5 5, Tyler 2 1-6 5. Totals: 15 12-28 44.

Long Branch (14-7) 5 4 12 7 – 28

Lakewood (21-3) 14 11 2 17 – 44

Three-pointers: (LB) Cox, Williams, J. Foster; (Lak) Niblack, Barksdale. Fouled out: (LB) Foster.