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."
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