Kimbrough, Jones, Kinsler return stateside to open ACI/Robin’s Nest’s title defense, Sterns Trailer outlasts OIB Ortho in overtime
MANASQUAN — The second night of the 58th JSBL season tipped off, with four more teams opening their respective seasons, including the defending champions. ACI/Robin’s Nest opened up its summer with a win over Larson Ford, while Sterns Trailer needed overtime to defeat OIB Ortho in the nightcap.
The Nest’s quest for a repeat starts off on a high note
11 months after its first league title, ACI/Robin’s Nest took down Larson Ford, 93-87, to open the year 1-0 in league play.
The theme of ACI/Robin’s Nest’s success over the last few seasons has been its play as a full unit, with many of the standouts having played together, whether at Neptune or in the collegiate ranks.
Few duos in the league take further advantage of that than former Neptune standouts Dwaine Jones and Jared Kimbrough.
Kimbrough was the star of the show in the opening game of the night, scoring 25 points with 18 rebounds on a sparkling 11-for-14 mark from the floor. He matched up against Larson Ford big man and recent Florida State graduate Shahid Muhammad, leading ACI/Robin’s Nest to the hard-fought victory.
“It feels good,” said Kimbrough after the game. “At first I wasn’t going to do it [play in the JSBL], but then I remembered a promise I made to Ms. Robin that I’d come back and play this year, so in reality I loved being out here tonight, so it was good.”
His point guard, Jones, set the table for his teammates for much of the night, and then eventually took over with some of his own scoring touch down the stretch of the game. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and a game-high seven assists. Fellow guard and Glenville State alumnus Samier Kinsler added 13 points with a trio of three-pointers, as the top three all returned from last year’s team, along with the addition of former St. Anthony’s and Georgetown standout Jagan Mosely.
What the offense would be was quite successful. Even with only 93 points, ACI/Robin’s Nest’s deliberate half-court offense, coupled with synergy in transition, helped bring them an efficient opening performance.
“I know how shot blockers are, that they jump for everything,” said Kimbrough with a chuckle. “So we made sure that the guards would attack them. And that will free me up or free somebody else up. So it wasn’t just me who had to take on that responsibility of going against him [Muhammad]. So it was a team effort; it was good.”
The top four scorers for ACI/Robin’s Nest all came off solid seasons in Europe. Kimbrough averaged 8.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in Finland for his third year professionally, and Jones averaged 7.2 points and 4.5 assists per game in his debut season in the United Kingdom.
Kinsler played in six games in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but made the most of his action with 15.5 points per game in the spring, while Mosely (12 points, four rebounds, five assists on Tuesday) averaged nine points per game in France, his sixth season overseas.
“Most of us are all professionals, so it’s like, this is what we do,” Kimbrough added. “This is our job. So it’s no real loss in chemistry. We already know what it takes to win because we won last year. So we all kind of came back in with that same mindset: let’s focus on defense, and then let the offense be what the offense is. So that’s just how locked in we are all together as a group.”
It wasn’t all smooth sledding for ACI/Robin’s Nest against a Larson Ford squad that already looks improved from a season ago. They were led by a team-high 21 points and ten rebounds from former Providence and Roselle Catholic standout Corey Floyd Jr., as well as 19 points from former Pepperdine and St. John Vianney big man Alex Leiba.
But in the end, ACI/Robin’s Nest’s championship DNA helped push them over the edge to begin their title defense.
Sterns Trailer hangs on in overtime
The league’s runner-up last year and previous three-time defending champion also took home a victory in its first game, but it came with some extra time in a hard-fought, 108-106 overtime victory over OIB Ortho.
For much of the first half, it looked like Sterns Trailer was close to running away with the victory, building multiple double-digit leads throughout the opening 20 minutes. But OIB Ortho refused to lie down and answered the bell each time.
Ortho won the battle of the loose balls and played connected basketball on both ends, as one would expect, with 11 of the 15 rostered players coming from nearby Georgian Court University.
Amar Lane (Georgian Court), Josh Michigan (Georgian Court/Brick Memorial), and Justin Soranno (Georgian Court/Central) never backed down despite facing a loaded Sterns Trailer frontcourt featuring established JSBL standouts Parker Dortch (Anderson), Mike Aaman (Wagner/Raritan), and Rasheen Merlin (Winston-Salem State). Soranno poured in a game-high 32 points, Michigan added 26, and Lane chipped in 15 as the trio consistently attacked the paint and dictated the physicality for much of the night. Meanwhile, Dante Weise (Millersville) orchestrated the offense brilliantly, finishing with 20 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while repeatedly slicing into the lane to create either quality looks at the rim or kick-out opportunities for open shooters.
As a team, OIB Ortho registered 26 offensive rebounds and 42 points in the paint, taking one of the league’s traditional powers down to the wire.
But Sterns Trailer would eventually get the last laugh with its superior shotmaking from the perimeter.
Merlin and former Stockton standout DJ Campbell led the way with 27 and 26 points, respectively, and Campbell knocked down a contested mid-range jumper to seal the victory with the Elam Ending in effect for overtime. Campbell knocked down four three-pointers and showcased an impressive ability to get to his shot from any angle, anywhere on the floor.
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Merlin shot 11-for-19 from inside the three-point line and overpowered OIB Ortho’s frontcourt with his low-post positioning before stretching the floor with two three-pointers of his own.
Dortch added 13 points in 17 minutes, and former Union Catholic star Devine Eke scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, giving Sterns Trailer another frontcourt option with athleticism and shotmaking.
