Neumann ends with a run, then a scrum, against Cabrini
ASTON » Exactly what happened after Neumann’s 9283 victory over Cabrini Monday night at the Mirenda Center remains a mystery that knocked the Cavaliers out of a tie for first place in the Colonial States Athletic Conference.
There was some pushing and shoving, over what no one seemed to know, and the two teams had to be separated.
“I don’t know the details around it,” Neumann coach Jim Rullo said. “Maybe they were upset with the layup at the end, but I just don’t think it’s anyone’s position as a coach to try to go after a player like that. It’s too emotional after a game like that because both teams are very good. Obviously, it was a very competitive game. There was a lot of talent on the floor. It’s just an unfortunate situation that should not have happened.”
Rullo referred to a meaningless layup at the buzzer by Neumann’s Gemil Holbrook.
“That had nothing to do with it,” Cabrini coach Tim McDonald countered. “What caused it, I don’t know. All I know is pushing and shoving happened and I just grabbed as many of our guys as I could and started throwing them toward our locker room. Trying to get a second-hand account after a scrum like that is next to impossible.”
There could have been some bad blood left over from Cabrini’s 105-76 romp over Neumann last Wednesday, but that’s just speculation.
As for what the players saw, Rullo did not make his players available to the media after the game, and Cabrini headed back to Radnor as quickly as possible.
One thing is certain, the dust-up took much of the luster off what was an entertaining game that went down to the wire.
The Knights (13-4, 8-3 CSAC) led by as many as 14 points, but needed some late heroics from Aaron Johnson-Chavis to keep the Cavaliers (14-3, 9-1) from extending their winning streak to 10 games. The 6-8 freshman forward scored six of his teamhigh 23 points after the Cavaliers cut the deficit to 84-82 on a Keith Blassingale layup with 59 seconds to play.
Johnson-Chavis also had a game-high 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.
“With his length and athleticism, he possesses an ability to get to the rim, and that was one of the things we looked at from (last) Wednesday night where you don’t want to settle and take quick shots,” Rullo said. “You want to make them play defense, make them work and take high-percentage shots. Fortunately for us he executed down the stretch for us.”
Tyaire Hudson was big for the Knights, too. He finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“He’s been through the ringer and he’s got the experience and we rely on him,” Rullo said. “We’ve relied on him for 2 ½ years now, and he’s proven himself at this level.”
Raquan Brown-Johnson (17 points), Billy Cassidy (12) and Holbrook (11) also reached double figures for Neumann. Jaquan Johnson added eight points, eight assists and five rebounds.
“I don’t think we played very well, and to their credit I think they did,” McDonald said. “They came out and did what we wanted to do. I think our mindset was we were going to come out and win by 30 again, which was not going to happen no matter how well we played today. That was kind of a fluke game last week where everything went our way, and tonight I think the guys came in with the mindset that we’ll walk in, they’ll roll over and we’ll win by 15 or 20.
“They took it to us, especially early. We had no answer for them defensively. We made enough shots to keep it close and make a run at the end of the game, but other that than I don’t think we played very well defensively at all.”
It didn’t help that senior forward Tyheim Monroe, Cabrini’s leading scorer and the top rebounder in Division III, was on the bench for the final 3:50 of the first half after picking up his third foul. Monroe finished with 23 points and 11 boards, but Neumann scored 13 of the last 21 points in the first half while he was on the bench to take control of the game.
“He’s a huge part of what we want to do offensively and defensively,” McDonald said. “Having to put him on the bench there for a few minutes gave them confidence going to the rim because we didn’t have anyone back there to protect it at all without him.”
Deryl Bagwell scored 17 points, including the 1,000th of his career, for Cabrini. DJ Smith had 18 points, and Blassingale had 15.
The game, though, took a back seat to the brief scuffle that happened afterward.
“It’s a basketball game. It doesn’t need to be bigger than that,” McDonald said. “Even though it’s a rivalry game and we just played the other night, that doesn’t need to happen ever. There’s no place for it.”
Women’s Basketball
Penn State-Brandywine was on top if its defensive game in a 64-43 victory over Trinity University in Washington. Brandywine forced 27 turnovers and held Trinity to 24 percent shooting from the field.
All 12 players scored for the Lions (13-5). Brandi James (Interboro), Crystal Miller and Kendra Stanford led the way with 10 points each. Stanford also had five steals.