Dragons Drop Two Games in Two Days, to Manchester and Manalapan

With Brick's win over Jackson Liberty on Sunday, a 13 game losing streak since winning the season opener at Mater Dei, was snapped. Refreshing as the win was, the Green Dragons dropped two games to Manchester and Manalapan, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

After the victory Sunday that included a 28 point Dragon fourth quarter, the Manchester Hawks defeated Brick on Tuesday.

Manchester, one of the better teams in the Shore Conference, was up big at halftime. The Dragons closed in on the lead and got within six with four minutes to play, but before the final buzzer, the Hawks pulled away for good.

Following the Manchester game, the Dragons traveled to Manalapan, just a day after falling to the Hawks at home.

The Dragons started well, going shot for shot, before Manalapan went on a streak of three pointers. Following the flurry, the Dragons found themselves down 23-13 after the first.

The second quarter went slow for both teams; each squad could only manage to score six. Sean Henry and Vin Farmer did a tremendous job down low for the Dragons in the second period, however, collecting rebounds and providing tough defense. Farmer also added two points.

"At halftime, we were happy with the way we played defense," said co head coach Tim Puglisi. "To keep some of their top players from as scoring is a difficult task and I think we contained them pretty well"

The third quarter became disastrous for Brick, however. The Braves put the game out of reach by outscoring the Dragons 19-5. Manalapan's shooters finally got hot, and Brick could not find the answers offensively - in the second and third quarter they scored just 11 points combined.

Brick scored 12 in the fourth, but it just wasn't enough. Manalapan won easily, 37-61.

There were some offensive bright spots, however.

James Walker had a team high 10 points with six of them coming in the fourth. John Kizmann followed up with nine, Nick Vitale with six points, and McDonnell scored five - as the only scorers to make more than one basket. Chris Parlow did a good job of getting through the lane, but lacked finish on his drives.

"He's been playing well for us lately," said Puglisi. "Great energy, buys into team defense, and he's aggressive out there."

Brick will next take on Ocean Township at home Friday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m.