RBR Surges Late, Downs Marlboro

Red Bank Regional came into the season with quite a bit of media attention around a number of talented seniors and veteran couch George Sourlis, while the James Reuter led Marlboro came in looking for a new identity after graduating a number of key players from last season’s team, including 6’7” forward Brave Haugh, who has moved on to college basketball at Moravian.

RBR got the game started on a steal and bucket by senior guard Zayier Dean to take the early 2-0 lead. Marlboro reeled off four unanswered layups and a pair of free throws from Daniel Crasto to give them an 10-2 lead midway through the opening stanza. RBR senior guard Ryan Fisher weaved his way to the hole to give the Bucs a little life and cut the lead to 10-4 with 2:00 to go in the first. After a Dean floater, Marlboro got a big boost at the buzzer with a three by Nolan Gong.  

Ajay Matthews started the second with a finish for Marlboro and they extended their lead to 15-6. Marlboro utilized tough defense to see themselves through a handful of turnovers as the quarter reached its turn. They uncorked the lid on the rim on a nice drive from Matthews, giving them a 19-6 lead at the 3:30 mark of the second quarter. Marlboro continued to struggle a bit on the offensive end but were able to limit RBR to just four points the rest of the half and took a 19-10 lead to the dressing room at the break.

Lubeck finished high off the glass to open the third and extend Marlboro back to a double digit lead at 21-10.  RBR responded by pressuring Marlboro into a number of turnovers on a mini-run. Marlboro was able to answer to hold a 31-21 lead with 2 minutes to go in the quarter. RBR was able to flip the script, as Fisher got hot with a series of triples to cut the Marlboro lead to 32-30. Marlboro responded with a three point basket of their owne to close the stanza up 35-30.

RBR opened the quarter with two turnovers off high intensity defense to trim the lead to 35-34 inside the opening minute. Dean nailed a smooth pull up jumper, giving RBR a 36-35 lead as the clock ticked inside of the final six minutes of the game. Fisher split a pair to extend the lead to 37-35 two minutes later. Dean continued his hot finish to the game with layup, but Gong answered right back to cut the Bucs lead to 41-40 with a minute to play.

RBR got a full possession lead late as Fisher split a pair to make it 43-40 with under half a minute to go. RBR thought they had survived after a Marlboro miss, but Fisher took steps with under a second to go after a Mustangs miss, giving the ball back under their basket to the visitors. Marlboro got a great last look, but a Lubcek corner triple was in-and-out at the buzzer, giving RBR the 43-40 win.

RBR moves to 2-0, while Marlboro falls to 0-1.

The Bucs face a tricky trip down to Manahawkin to take on Southern on December 17--The length of travel down that way can impact a performance.

Marlboro will host Middletown South at 5:15 on Monday in a unique battle of "Master" vs "Student" against new Eagles head man Mike Iasparro. Mustangs coach James Reuter was an assistant to Iasparro during his time at Middletown North and now the two will match wits in a regular season game as head coaches.

Case Agency Player Of The Game

Ryan Fisher, Red Bank Regional

When RBR needed a leader, it was the 6'1" senior guard who showed up, ice in the veins, to hit a series of triples and free throws to power the Bucs to victory.

Fisher led all scorers with 14 points. Gong led Marlboro with 12.