Higgins Scores 2,000th Point On Night Spoiled By Buzzer-Beater

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MIDDLETOWN – Middletown North’s Rob Higgins became the eighth player in Shore Conference history to record 2,000 points Thursday night but it was Neptune’s Dwaine Jones who stole the show. Jones drained a long three-pointer at the buzzer giving the Fliers a 66-63 win over the Lions in front of a stunned home-team crowd.

Higgins had Jones blanketed on the play, but Jones let loose an off-balance prayer from three-point range deep in the left corner that saw nothing but net as time expired. Jones’ game winner put an end to the Lions dramatic Higgins-fueled comeback from 10-points down with under four minutes remaining in the game.

“We’re really good friends and I love going at him but I’m kind of mad he hit that game winner,” Higgins added. “I would’ve loved to hit the game winner and go out with two K, it would’ve been great, but he hit the last shot and it was a tough shot but he hit it.”

Jones scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Jones and Mekai Suit (17 points - seven in the fourth) combined to score 28 of Neptune’s 33 second-half points.

Down 60-50 after a Suit field goal with 3:51 left in the game, Higgins took matters into his own hands putting on an incredible display of shooting by scoring 10-straight points, including two three-pointers, in a little over two minutes to pull the Lions even, 60-60, with 1:37 remaining in this suddenly intense contest.

However, as soon as the Lions tied the game, Jones came alive to give Neptune a 63-60 lead with 44 seconds left. Junior forward Jeff Tinik kicked it out to Jones from underneath the basket and Jones didn’t hesitate swishing a three-pointer from the right corner for the lead.

“Me and Rob are real good friends, so I knew it would be a really tough match-up,” Jones said. “He is going to make a lot of tough shots but I knew I had to keep my mental game right and keep playing. I went over to him on the sidelines and told him, ‘This is a good battle.’ We wanted to keep going at each other. It was back-and-fourth. Luckily I got the ball last.”

Trailing 63-60, Higgins, who finished with 37 points including 13 straight down the stretch and 17 of the Lions 19 fourth quarter points, wasn’t done yet. Guard Quinten Soler crossed center court and quickly got the ball to Higgins just outside the three-point arc on the right side and Higgins nailed a three to tie the game, 63-63, with 17 seconds remaining.

With Jones now brining the ball up court, Higgins almost slapped the ball away for a steal, but Jones recovered and Neptune called timeout as he crossed center court with seven seconds left in the game and the rest is history.

“He (Higgins) made me fall the first time (on a crossover on his three-pointer), that never happened before, so I knew I had to get him back,” said Jones. “In the time out, coach (Joe Fagan) always trusts me with the ball at the end of the game. So, I knew I was taking the shot. Ever since I was little I wanted to be in the spotlight, regardless of whether I make it or miss it. I want to have the burden on my shoulders, so I wasn’t afraid to take the shot.”

“We were talking, going back-and-forth,” said Higgins. “There was one-minute left in the game, we were talking trash, being friends. At the end of the day, he hit the last shot and that stings for me a little bit.”

Trailing 33-30 at the half, Higgins, who had 17 first-half points, sank a three for his 2,000th career point to give the Lions a 37-35 lead at 4:36 of the third quarter.

Higgins joins an elite group of 2,000-point scorers from the Shore Conference that includes current Ranney star guard Bryan Antione, who eclipsed the mark earlier this season, Norm Caldwell (Croydon Hall), Chris Fleming (Lacey), Jermaine Clay (Central), Jim Dolan (St. Joe’s Toms River), Jack Ardon (Lakewood) and Payton Wejnert (Southern), who accomplished the feat in 2016.

“It was just like a normal game,” said Higgins of his mindset entering the contest. “Everyone was telling me, ‘2,000, 2,000,’ but it was just another game for me. It was a great feeling when it happened and the gym went crazy – it felt great. I’m just proud to be part of such an elite group.”

Higgins and Antione’s friendship goes way back and there’s a possibility the two sharp-shooters could end up one and two in scoring in Shore Conference history. Caldwell owns the all-time scoring mark of 2,302 points.

“Me and Brian are really good friends,” said Higgins. “We went to Saint Mary’s (middle school) together and we talk to each other on an almost daily basis. It’s really surreal to have two players like that score 2,000 points in the same year. Eight people have done it and now we have two in one season – that’s crazy.”

Higgins is now averaging close to 30 points per game, so at the pace he would need 10 games to surpass Caldwell’s mark. For Him to do that, the Lions (8-9, 4-6), with seven regular season game’s remaining, would most likely need to make the Shore Conference Tournament and state tournament for it to happen.

As of late, the Lions have been snake bit with their last four losses coming by a combined 13 points.

Neptune led 49-44 after three quarters and up to that point Higgins had shot just 7-of -24 from the field. He then showed why he is one of the most prolific scorers in Shore Conference history with one of his patented scoring outburst in the fourth quarter finishing shooting a respectable 14-of-34 from the field.

“People were saying that I was rushing my shots but those are shots that I take all the time,” said Higgins. “I wasn’t hitting - I usually hit those shots. In the second half I was hitting the same shots I was taking in the first half.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss on Higgins big night, his performance in the latter part of the fourth quarter was one for the ages and one no one will forget anytime soon.

Lions junior forward Ryan Rozinski had a strong performance recording a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards, including two huge rebounds in the final minutes of the game. Sophomore guard Quentin Soler led the team with seven assists and Vincent Pennino chipped in with nine points.

“We spread it out a little bit and I went to work and they (teammates) kept feeding me,” said Higgins. “We got back into the game and I hate to see it end like that but it was a good game.”

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