Back At Full Strength, Manasquan Routs Shorthanded Eagles

Photos by Tom Smith: #3 Brad McCabe, #10 Emilio Stevenson, #13 Ryan Flanagan and #25 Alex Galvan

MIDDLETOWN - Manasquan was cruising along as the last undefeated team in the Shore Conference when the injury bug hit them resulting in their only two losses of the season.

Starting forward Xander Korolik, a 6-foot-5 junior, went down with an ankle injury that sidelined him for three games and 6-foot-6 junior forward Alex Galvan, the first player off the bench for Manasquan, injured his wrist and was forced to sit for almost three weeks.

Monday night at Middletown South in a game that had crucial B North implications, both Korolik and Galvan returned to the lineup and helped the Warriors roll past the Eagles, who were riding a five game winning streak and were within a game of Manasquan for the division lead, 52-38.

Korolik finished with seven points and seven rebounds while Galvan grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, blocked three shots and added two steals along with three points. Their inside presence cannot be understated as they dominated the paint in their return Monday.

“Athletic and small is not as good as athletic and big,” said Manasqaun head coach Andrew Bilodeau of the return of his two big men. “They make a difference. But, listen, every team in the Shore deals with that (injuries). They don’t cancel the season until you get healthy, so it is what it is.

“You see the difference on the boards with Alex in there,” said Bilodeau. “Just his size and quickness to the rim – that helped.”

Junior Brad McCabe scored a game-high 22 points including three three-pointers and senior point guard Ryan Flanagan added nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

“Without one or two guys or with a whole team, we’re still going to come out and play hard,” McCabe said. “The guards have to pick up the slack rebounding and now that we have a full lineup – we’re a power. We’re one of the bigger, stronger teams in the Shore and our rebounding is crazy with them in there.”

Just as Manasquan finally returned to full strength, the Eagles lost their second-leading scorer and top rebounder, 6-foot-4 senior forward David Gervase, who was knocked out of the contest with the flu. In his absence Middletown South’s inside game was basically nonexistent against the Warriors big-men and their lock-down zone defense.

“You couldn’t find a worse opponent to run into then them (Manasquan) when you have someone as athletic as him (Gervase) out,” said Middletown South head coach Jim Anderson, who said Gervase had also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury. “He plays the backside of our defense and some of the other things – it’s a loss. He rebounds, he can score – he’s a great basketball player. He might be our most invaluable player, so running into a team like (Manasquan) is going to be tough.”

Without Gervase in the lineup Manasquan was able to key on the Eagles leading scorer Ryan Purcell, who struggled while shooting just 6-for-18 (30%) from the field and scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter when the game out of reach.

“With or without Gervase, I think they’re very talented,” said Manasquan head coach Andrew Bilodeau when asked if they changed their approach to the game with Gervase missing. “They can make shots which makes them dangerous. Gervase is a penetrator and the key to stopping Middletown South is to stop penetration in general and defend their three-point line. It changes one match-up but not our overall approach.”

Manasquan was definitely successful in stopping the Eagles penetration to the basket and forcing the perimiter shot, especially in the first half, when they held the Eagles to 3-for-22 shooting (13.6 percent), but only led 19-10 at the half after struggling offensively in the first half as well.

In the third quarter the Eagles continued to struggle on offense while the Warriors began to heat up outscoring South 16-8 in the quarter to take a 35-18 lead. McCabe added another seven points after scoring seven in the first half and Flanagan chipped in with four.

The Warriors pushed the lead to 20 points, 46-26, on a Justin Gladden offensive rebound and put-back with 3:07 remaining in the game and Bilodeau began to sit his regulars giving his bench players some playing time.

Manasquan (13-2, 9-1) – ranked No. 7 in the Shore Conference – now holds a two-game lead in the loss column over both Middletown South (10-6, 7-3) and Red Bank Catholic (13-4, 8-3), who they split thier season series with, in the B North.

The Warriors and Eagles will meet again after their originally scheduled game was postponed due to snow then a scheduling error led to another postponement. But according to Bilodeau the game will be made up.

Senior Nick Unrath finished with nine points and six rebounds while Purcell also had five rebounds and three steals for the Eagles.

After a big divisional game with Wall on Thursday the Warriors will host No. 3 Rumson-Fair Haven Saturday, February 3 in a classic Top 10 battle.

“I don’t think you have to be at your best in December and January,” Bilodeau said. “They don’t give out trophies for winning in December. You just have to keep getting better, hopefully get healthy down the stretch and be at your best when it’s time.”

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