Stockton College Men's Basketball Coach Gerry Matthews Nets Win No. 500

Since Gerry Matthews became coach at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in 1985, the basketball shorts may have gotten longer and the school's colors changed, but winning has been a constant.

Matthews, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the Ospreys men's
basketball team, notched career win No. 500 Tuesday night, Jan. 3 in front of a home crowd, as Stockton defeated North Carolina Wesleyan, 83-60.

"No. Honestly no," Matthews said when asked if he thought about win No. 500 before Tuesday's game. "It was kind of expected. It was inevitable coming into the season. I tried to keep the focus on us getting better. We struggled at the start, but we have been getting better, and now we have to get better each time we play."

Even with the win behind him, Matthews would rather look ahead and spell out what is important for the team to be successful.

"It feels good, but the crazy part is that we play again tomorrow night," Matthews said. "We played Thursday, Friday and tonight and in all honesty, tomorrow (College of New Jersey) of all the four games is the most important. It's a league game, and it's a (division game). At the end of the year, the first three teams are in the playoffs, but the team that wins the South gets a bye. We need to get a win for the tiebreaker if it comes down to that."

That focus on what's next has helped Matthews not only become the most
successful coach in Stockton history, but become among the most successful coaches in the Garden State's history.

Matthews only trails former Princeton legend Pete Carrill by 14 wins as the
winningest coach in the history of the state.

The longtime Ospreys coach watched his team Tuesday night turn a two-point halftime deficit into a runaway win in the second half.

Stockton (7-5) turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding
North Carolina Wesleyan to 34-percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. Stockton also forced its opponents to make 27 turnovers.

The Ospreys' Rich Suhr led all scorers with 24 points to help lead the team to
its fourth straight win. Stockton has won six of seven since starting the season 1-4.

Winning streaks is nothing new for Matthews and the Ospreys. Under Matthews, Stockton has never had a losing season. Matthews and Stockton have won at least 20 games 13 times, including a 30-win campaign three years ago.

Matthews has led the Ospreys to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and twice made it to the Final Four.

"The league is still tough," Matthews said. "I think over the 26 years, us and Jersey City had the best programs. The last 12 years, William Patterson has come on and Ramapo too. I still say we are in the top two or three overall."

Before coming to , Matthews, who lives in Brielle, coached at the
high school level in northern New Jersey.

When he came to Galloway Township in the mid-1980s, he didn't think much past that first year.

"I never thought about it," he said. "I knew I wanted to coach."

And he still is coaching, and winning.