Ramapo College:   Old Tappan loss its undefeated record due to some uninspiring play from itself and the domination of  6’6 senior Noel Allen of North Bergen (pictured right) as it fell 54-38. Allen scored 34 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and gave Old Tappan fits around the bucket! Old Tappan seemed to always be in striking distance in the 1st half as neither team ( besides Allen) shot the ball well in a 19-13 intermission score. Old Tappan got subpar games from their two leaders, junior guard Shane McLaughlin (8pts., 5 rebs.) and senior Thomas Messina ( 6 pts.,4 rebs.). Allen had 12 of the 19 in the 1st half and continued his onslaught in the 2nd half, even knocking down a “no-no-yes” three midway in the 4th quarter. Allen also blocked 5 shots in the game. Senior Chris Rodriguez contributed 9 points and 7 boards for North Bergen. Senior Sammy Elias led Old Tappan with 10 points and 7 rebounds. 

        Ramapo College:  Hackensack had five players in double figures with Alex George- Sabater (pictured right) leading the way with 20 points and 6 steals. Junior Bright Mensah added 16 points and 8 rebounds as the Comets took a 9 point halftime lead 42-33 and extended it to 18 at the end of the 3rd quarter 63-45. Senior Mark Ellison ( 14 pts., 6 stls.), freshman Eugene Marshall ( 12pts., 4 rebs.) and senior Brent Cox ( 11pts., 5 rebs.)  completed the other players in double figures. Fort Lee  was led by standout senior guard Sandy Burgos (pictured below right) who led them in scoring with 35 points and added 5 assists. He got help from  junior guard Ryan Ford who contributed 17 points and 6 rebounds. The Comets caused over 20 turnovers and out rebounded Fort Lee 32-22 as that pretty much caused the problem for the Bridgeman.

 Wayne,N.J. :     Even though Passaic County Tech has a nice young up and coming team they needed a signature win that would prove to them that they are moving in the right direction. After tough losses to St. Joseph’s H. S. in the Indian Hills Holiday tournament final and a close loss to Kennedy H.S. earlier this week, Tech found itself pitted against Passaic H.S.  What they came away with was “That” signature win as they held off Passaic 63-61 friday in an exciting contest the whole way. The Bulldogs were led by 6’2  swingman Xavier Nieves( pictured) who scored 19 points,grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. The junior’s last 8 points came from the foul line.  His play and that of  5’7 sophomore guard Asaad Hinton (13 pts., 4 rebs, 2 stls) along with an aggressive defense helped Tech overcome the dynamic play of Passaic’s 6’5 senior Najee Salaam and 6’5 senior Tyshon Pickett. Salaam scored a career high 30 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Pickett went for 18 points and 14 boards. With Tech ahead at the half 35-31 they started the 2nd half strong moving out to a 9 point lead . The Indians would not be thrown away that easily and came storming back  going on a 14-3 run and pulling ahead 45-43 on a Pickett bucket. Tech went into the 4th with a 51-50 lead and from there the game was in question until the final buzzer. With Tech ahead by 2, Tech’s Brandon James missed the front end of a one and one. Passaic called time with 12 seconds on the clock but for some reason never got a shot off as their two top players( Salaam and Pickett) never touched the ball in the end.