SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Suffolk
CC's Streak Reaches 50
Suffolk can’t be stopped
Balanced Clippers turn back challenge from tough Gloucester
to stretch streak to 50 in bid for another title
BY GREGG SARRA
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
DELHI, N.Y. - These teams could have been on a
collision
course -or the national title game. Too bad the draw matched top-ranked
Suffolk
CC-Selden and No. 2 Gloucester CC (NJ.) yesterday in a quarterfinal o-
the
NJCAA Division III men's basketball tournament.
Suffolk CC carried a 49-game winning streak, longest in
the
nation, into SCC.MKN 68 SUNY-Delhi's Farrell Hall gym. The Clippers
were
looking to successu1ly defend the school's only NJCM Div. III
NJCAA
title and extend the fourth-longest streak in junior-college history.
Gloucester CC was on a 17game streak and in search o- its
first
national crown since 1994.
One streak lives - and it's Suffolk's. Vernon Alonzo's two
baskets
sparked a 13-2 run -or a 14-point lead with 1:41 left, and the Clippers
went
on to a 68-58 victory before 600 fans.
Suffolk will put its 50-game streak on the line at 6
tonight
against seventh-ranked Caldwell (N.C.) in a semifinal. Caldwell (27-4)
ran
its winning streak t0 24 by upsetting fourth-ranked
Joliet
(Ill.).
Adding to the hype before yesterday's game, the teams met
at
the pre-tournament dinner and stayed at the same hotel. But there were
no
pleasantries exchanged before the game as gums flapped.
"The mind games don't work with us," said Suffolk's
Maurice
Manning, who scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half. "We go
through
that all year - everyone wants to take us down. They just fueled the
fire."
Suffolk's gold-plated win featured exceptional ball movement and the
inspired
defense of Amiel Thomas (11 rebounds) and Marcele Street. Suffolk
(32-0)
led 27-21 at the half, even though Manning sat out the final 10:18 in
foul
trouble. "My stomach was bubbling on the bench," he said, "and I was
trying
to be a part of it from there."
"We have a deep bench and they played a lot of minutes
this
year," Coach Rich Wrase said. "The star players don't always get it
done.
And the bench has always come through for us."
Suffolk CC used a 9-0 streak, capped by Manning's three
point
play, to take a 36-25 lead with 16:25 left. Gloucester (29-2) got
within
52-49 with 4:58 left, but Alonzo (12 points) went inside for two
baskets
and Street (15 points) drove for a score.
Alonzo's ability to glide past Gloucester's front line
keyed
the win. "They were athletic and good shot-blockers," he said. "I went
right
at them. I went jab step, they went with it, and I said, `See ya.' They
lost
their legs at the end."
GODBLESSAMERICA
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