RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The trip was all but 1.8 miles from home, clearly the shortest excursion this season. On tap, a Division II meeting with Bloomfield College and Felician University on the latter’s Senior Night. Bloomfield enters at 21-5 facing an 11-14 Felician team. As noted, the Senior Night and all its related emotion, can bring a team needed inspiration.
The gym at Felician once served as home to Fairleigh Dickinson University. In the late Eighties, FDU moved off the campus, relocated its operations in Rutherford to Hackensack and opened the Rothman Center. The gym was used for biddy and travel games for several years. Felician decided to move from a smaller locale in nearby Lodi onto the empty campus. The gym was given a lighting and overall makeover and is quite different from those days between tenants.
One of the officials is Guy Pagano, a good officiating friend. You can catch Guy in the Garden, Barclays Center or a number of other noted locations. On this night he is at the gym that barely seats 1,000 and ready to give his normally outstanding effort. I mention to Guy I have officiated with Bloomfield coach Gerald Holmes (in travel) and officiated for him during his high school JV coaching days at Columbia High School in New Jersey. Holmes has a great reputation and respect on the sidelines, so the chance to catch up with his team was a good opportunity.
Early on in this meeting, Holmes is content to have a seat on the bench to assess the situation. His defense is man-to-man with full court pressure following a score. Felician is up-tempo on offense especially breaking the press. Transition often leads to a three-point attempt as opposed to attacking the basket.
Felician coach Ivan Lewis is neatly dressed in a suit. Given the unseasonably warm night – the gym is a sauna – and intensity of the game, Lewis shed the jacket eight minutes into the contest.
Burt Shoobs is in attendance. A long time PA announcer with over 900 straight games to his credit, Shoobs, a basketball junkie, is often at other games in the stands meticulously scoring and breaking down the game in his college style notebook. He recalled announcing the game when David Robinson played here. “That was 1985,” Shoob said. “Robinson was a Junior at Navy. Paul Evans (Navy) and Tom Green (FDU) were the coaches. Navy won a competitive game, but the most damage was not done by Robinson but Vernon Butler (a solid under the radar performer for the Midshipmen).”
The half moves on. Bloomfield builds a seven-point lead, yet each time a chance of separation is answered with a Felician run. Holmes is now pacing the sideline, usually to implore his defenders to be aware and close out on the arc. Felician will not go away. A late Bloomfield lead is erased and Terrell Spaulding hits a buzzer beater to send the home five into the half with a 41-40 lead.
At the half fans make a run on Gatorade and water dispensers to cool off. I thought of how fast the first 20 minutes were played given no media time outs on this level. During intermission, thoughts came up repeatedly regarding the level of play. We are miles from MSG or the Prudential Center. The gym size is more akin to a high school facility. On the floor these teams and coaches are going at it like their D-I brethren do on a nightly basis. In a sense this level may be more about coaching purity. Recruiting is present here, but not as obsessive as at the upper echelon. The result sees the respective coaches more as teachers and developers of talent than just procurers of talent.
Bloomfield “wins”, 9-6, the all-important first four minutes of the second half to regain the lead. For the first time Holmes questions a few officiating decisions. He has let a solid crew work, but in the heat of battle one or two calls are commented on.
The game remains tight and punctuated by mini-runs. Bloomfield threatens to pull away, then Felician answers. The hosts switch defenses between man and zone. In zone offense Holmes runs a nice high/low post set looking to attack inside first, settle for the perimeter if needed. Classic inside-out attack.
Bloomfield led by five with four minutes to go. They spread the floor to burn some time off the clock and get a good isolation at the end of the possession. With 90 seconds left, Keith Washington scores on a penetration to put the visiting Bears ahead by seven. This appeared to be the proverbial “dagger” before Felician answered with a three at the other end.
In the final minute, Bloomfield was able to seal it. The combination of percentages and good defensive closeouts resulted in Felician cooling off from deep. On the other end, Bloomfield executed and hit a few free throws to finalize the 89-81 verdict.
Safee Abus-Sabur paced Bloomfield with 23 points and Washington added 16 (while distributing 8 assists). Kavione Green also added 16 points in relief. Spaulding, Gjaimeir Stanford and Zamir Wright shared Felician scoring honors with 17 points each. Wright did his damage off the bench and posed a Bloomfield defensive problem for most of the game with his ability to get in the lane or pull up from deep.
Bloomfield is about six miles from Felician’s Rutherford campus. Given the proximity, Bloomfield would basically gather what they brought and head home. Holmes accepted congratulations from several well wishers and briefly spoke about the hard-fought win.
“Everybody gives us their best shot,” Holmes said while trying to get a breath to cool off in the hot gym. “We expected that. No surprise. We have won 10 of the last 14 (CACC) titles and seven conference tournaments. Felician on Senior night, at their place, we knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
Holmes agreed with the assessment that resilience, the ability to hang around, was a big factor for the host. “We were up seven late the first half and gave up three open threes,’” Holmes said with a laugh. “That helped them and gave them a lead at the half.”
Playing with a target on their back is something his team has actually thrived on. There’s no difference than for teams appearing regularly on Sportscenter. “It is what it is,” he said. “It’s similar to Duke, (North) Carolina and Kentucky. Those teams take the floor they know the opposition will be gunning for them night in and night out. With us it’s just the same.”
There is a bit less attention, for the most part, but lining up to compete and do battle, it is the same.
