Tobin, Jent: Different Players, Same Intangibles (Video, 27 Photos!)

Driving back to his Cleveland home with his son in the passenger seat Monday, Chris Jent remembered the night in 1988 when he became Sussex County's career scoring leader.

Hours later, Hopatcong senior guard Matt Tobin snapped Jent's all-time mark of 2,287 points, dropping 38 points in a 68-56 win over Pompton Lakes in a North 1, Group 2 first-round matchup at .

By most accounts, Tobin, who will play at Division II East Stroudsburg University next year, is a much different athlete than Jent, a Sparta graduate and former NBA player. At 6-foot-1, Tobin's a shooter and a playmaker, capable of sinking a jumper from almost anywhere on the court. Jent, a 6-foot-6 swingman, could score inside and out, but often used his size advantage on the wings.

But Dennis Tobin, Matt's father and Jent's former high school coach, sees simliarities in their intangibles.

"Both of them, since they were very young, had a love and a passion for the game and they knew what it would take to be successful," Dennis Tobin said. "They definitely mirror each other on that."

Reached by phone before Monday night's game, Jent, a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, remembered passing Dennis Tobin's career record of 2,091 points with a 57-point effort at Lenape Valley. He said he didn't feel any pressure that night, didn't much think about the milestone before the game.

"I was just confident," said Jent, who played at Ohio State. "I didn't really think, at that point on my life, that there was too much people could do on a basketball floor to stop me from scoring points."

Dennis Tobin, however, did have the record—and another one—in mind that night. He said he told Jent's teammates at halftime to get him the ball as often as possible so he could quickly break Sparta's single-game points record. They obliged. Jent set the standard and spent the fourth quarter resting on the bench.

Jent and Dennis Tobin each said Monday night that Jent's career points total would have been higher had the Spartans, who won a 1988 state title, not been so good. Jent then would have played more late in games, giving him more scoring opportunities.

Matt Tobin, however, needed all the shots he could get if he wanted to approach Jent's mark. And he got them. Matt Tobin has been the go-to shooter for No. 5 Hopatcong, which will head to No. 4 Elmwood Park on Wednesday, for his entire career, and that was no different Monday night.

Matt Tobin began the evening six points shy of the record. He sank a 3-pointer from the right corner two minutes into the game, sending the Chiefs' crowd into a tizzy. He tied the mark with an and-one layup, but missed the free throw, and became Sussex County's top all-time scorer with another tough layup with 1:15 left in the first quarter.

After referees stopped the action to acknowledge Matt Tobin's accomplishment, he waived to his family; Jent's mother, Trish; and sister, Meghan. He finished with 13 first-half points before going off in the second half for 25. The senior guard even helped seal the win with 10 points in the game's last three minutes.

Matt Tobin said the record hadn't sunk in immediately after the game, but that it's "definitely a big accomplishment."

"Chris Jent's a great player," Matt Tobin said, adding: "He obviously knows a lot about the game."

Matt Tobin found out how much Jent knew when he volunteered at a Jent's youth basketball camp in Sparta last summer. The 17-year-old spent time after the camp taking instruction from Jent, learning a quicker release for his jumpshot and other skills. Matt Tobin also said Jent gave him a little advice.

"He told me that you're not going to have a great game every game and shooters just keep shooting," Matt Tobin said.

Jent said he left the camp impressed with Matt Tobin's poise.

"He was polished as far as his offensive ability," Jent said. "I know he got some chance to play some four on four … He's a good ballplayer. He sees the floor. He was playing with older kids, so he wasn't shooting as much. But he's just an overall good ballplayer."

Probably because of Dennis Tobin, who played a key role in his son's and Jent's basketball careers.

He coached Matt through eighth grade, and Jent said Dennis Tobin helped him recognize his potential. Jent said he knew he was a good player in grade school, but listening to Dennis Tobin push him to Howard Garfinkel, a founder of Five Star Camp, a premier youth basketball showcase, as an eighth-grader made a big difference.

"Just him making those comments about me," Jent said, "I knew how good I was at the time. [But] to hear him say that, it really made me look at myself different."

"Different" was also the word Hopatcong head coach Jim Tobin, Dennis' brother, used to describe Matt Tobin's and Jent's games. But they shared a bond, he said.

"They put a lot of time into the sport, and that's why they became the players they are now," Jim Tobin said.