Game 1
1 p.m.

Gameline:

The Men’s Division III Basketball Championship tournament tipped off with the Bergen Community College Bulldogs going up against the Rockland Community College Hawks. With both schools making their first trip to the NJCAA tournament, there was little to be said about how important this game was to each team. After a pretty evenly matched start in the first ten minutes, the Bulldogs began to capitalize on costly turnovers by the Hawks and took the first big lead of the half, pulling away by 10 points with 10 minutes to play. The rest of the half remained consistent and ended with the Bulldogs up 41-32.

The second half of the game began just as the first with both teams scoring back and forth for the first three minutes. The Bulldogs picked up the intensity, forcing turnovers and converging on fast break opportunities and free throws, as they pushed their lead to a commanding 19 points with 11 minutes left in the game. The Hawks’ floor general Fidel Gonzalez, who is ranked second in the country in assists, found himself in foul trouble early in the game and could not be as effective as they needed him to be. Even with Gonzalez off of the court, the Hawks s till managed to rally back and pull within 11 points with nine minutes left in the game. It wasn’t enough though. Bergen seemed to make it impossible for Rockland to pull the lead to less than 10 points as they continued to force turnovers and score easy baskets.

With about five minutes left to play, the Bulldogs’ 6’8” center Jayvon Beaty dunked a missed lay-up and followed it up with an alley-oop from point-guard Aaron Dorell. The energy carrying on from these two plays led to a game high 21-point lead for the Bulldogs, and deflated the drive from the Hawks. The game ended with the Bergen Community College Bulldogs defeating the Rockland Community College Hawks 79-64.

The Bulldogs’ Jayvon Beaty ended the game with yet another double-double, recording 15 points and 12 rebounds, while guard Derrick Ross scored a game high 20 points. Elgin Brown also contributed ten rebounds for the Bulldogs. Although in foul trouble, Fidel Gonzalez scored a team high 15 points for the Hawks.

Game 1

Three-Point Goals

Fouled Out:

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Assists:

Total Fouls: