STOCKTON WINS ALBRIGHT TOURNAMENT, 59-58

Kevin Johnson

Boxscore

Richard Stockton (6-5) rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half and edged Albright (7-3) 59-58 to win the Albright Holiday Tournament.

Salman Yusuff (Vineland/Vineland) sank a foul shot with 17 seconds remaining to snap a 58-58 tie with the winning point that gave head coach Gerry Matthews his 499th career victory and the team’s third straight win.

Rich Suhr (Toms River/TR East) led the Ospreys with a team-high 13 points. Kevin Johnson (Paulsboro/ Paulsboro) scored 12 points, all in the second half, and was named tournament MVP.

Bill McDonough (Spring Lake/St. Rose) tossed in 10 points while Yusuff finished with five markers and joined Johnson on the All-Tournament Team. Derek Hall led all players with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Albright.

Shooting percentages told the story of the first half as Stockton shot just 24.3% from the field while Albright connected at a torrid 59.3% rate. The Ospreys scored four points in the first 90 seconds of the game for an early 4-0 lead but netted just 20 markers the rest of the half and faced a 39-24 deficit at the break. Suhr paced Stockton with eight first-half points.

Stockton trailed 49-30 with 14:30 remaining but outscored Albright 29-9 the rest of the way as the Lions went just 6-26 (23.1%) from the floor in the second half. McDonough netted four points to lead a 14-0 run that brought the Ospreys with 49-44 with 7:56 on the clock but Albright built the lead back to nine in the next three-plus minutes.

Suhr answered with a three-pointer that ignited an 11-1 spurt over the last 3:25 of the game. Johnson sank three baskets during the run, the third of which tied the game at 58 with 1:15 to play. Later, after a shot by Johnson was blocked by Hall, Yusuff grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul with 17 seconds to play. Yusuff sank one of two free throws and the Ospreys survived a missed shot by Albright’s Shane Irwin in the closing seconds to prevail 59-58.