Former Brookdale standouts Kevin Mateo and Andre Wells power JSBL teams to victory

MANASQUAN — Wednesday’s Jersey Shore Basketball League action saw a significant impact from former Brookdale guards Kevin Mateo and Andre Wells. The pair shined in Brookdale’s 2022-2023 season when they helped lead the Jersey Blues to the 2022-2023 NJCAA National Championship.

Brookdale Head Coach Paul Cisek, a three-time national champion, looked on as his former players flourished against JSBL competition. Mateo scored 27 points with 7 assists and added 5 rebounds to start the night in Sterns Trailer’s 91-85 over Intern Helpers. Wells followed that performance up in the following game with a steady 12 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals in the WCT Warriors’ 139-102 shellacking over Sea View Jeep.

“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive,” said Mateo “I knew that our best chance to win would be for me to come out aggressive and set the tone. That was my main focus.”

Mateo was a 2023 NJCAA Division 3 All-American and the NJCAA Division 3 Player of the Year in addition to being a national champion. He scored a team-high 31 points in Brookdale’s 90-82 national championship victory over Sandhills back in 2023. Mateo played professionally this past season in the Dominican Republic for Reales. He continues to pursue opportunities to play overseas professionally.

“Kevin is just a great shooter, I can see he’s gotten stronger.” said Cisek. “27 points with 7 assists tonight, that’s exactly how he played for us. National Championship game he took over and was absolutely tremendous.”

As for Wells, he was Mateo’s backcourt mate on the 2023 Championship team. While the individual accolades did not pour in for Wells like they did for Mateo at Brookdale, he consistently grew as a player throughout his career culminating with an All-NJAC honorable mention this past season when he averaged 16 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 4.6 assists per game for William Paterson. Wells just completed his senior season playing for the Pioneers.

“Andre has gotten quicker, and he is more offensive minded,” said Cisek

The championship for the Jersey Blues in 2023 did not come without adversity as they found themselves down seven points at halftime. However, Wells and Mateo made the comeback happen with their leadership and on court performance.

“Andre wasn’t a real vocal guy, but in the national title game he stepped up and laid into the team during a timeout and it got everyone going.” said Cisek

Mateo backed Wells and poured in 24 points in the second half to secure victory for Brookdale.

“To win that game and to see the happiness and joy meant the world,” said Cisek “The kids still talk about it and they still watch it. To come and watch them play again it reminds me how great it was to win the national title, especially with those two guys.”

Game 1 Recap: Sterns Trailer 91, Intern Helpers 85

In a game that featured 8 lead changes and 4 ties Sterns emerged victorious thanks in large part to Mateo’s performance.

Stern’s hopped out to a commanding 23-10 lead in the first quarter which was aided by a 14-0 run in the middle of the quarter. However, the Intern Helpers would go on to steal the lead by halftime in large part due to a 24-2 run towards in end of the first half.

However, thanks to the diverse second half attack of Sterns they were able to edge out the Intern Helpers in the final two quarters winning the game down the stretch. Sterns dominated on the glass posting a +27 rebound differential. Parker Dortch, Rasheen Merlin and Derrick Woods all recorded double digits in rebounds.

The Intern Helpers fought valiantly down the stretch as Leon Daniels led the team in scoring with 23 points, followed by Christian Lyons who had 17. However, their 37% shooting from the field and rebound differential of -27 was just too much to overcome.

Game 1 Notes:

• Despite winning, Sterns only made 57.8% of their free throws and turned it over 25 times
• Sterns had an incredible 38.9% Offensive Rebound percentage
• Sterns Trailer had the largest lead of the game at 27-11
• Both teams shot 40% from three in the first half

Game 2 Recap: WCT Warriors 139, Sea View Jeep 102

WCT dominated a short handed Sea View Jeep team from beginning to end in route to their first win of the season.

WCT’s depth played a massive role in their victory as they were led by Ryan Pettit who scored 27 points off the bench. WCT had 6 different players score in double figures while Sea View Jeep only had 6 players suit up for them.

Monmouth transfer Jinup Dobuol had another solid night as he scored 21 points to go along with 9 rebounds. Chima Ekekeugbor (Barton/CBA) added 17 points with 7 boards. Ryan Savoy (Nichols/Lakewood) scored 19 points and Wells had a team high 7 assists.

Sea View Jeep’s standout performer was once again Justin Robinson. Robinson put up a gaudy stat line of 47 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in the loss. Surprisingly, 47 points is not the most that someone has scored in a loss this season as George Papas scored 51 points for Ortho-NJ in a loss earlier in the season to RKE Athletic. CJ Ruoff (Catholic/RBC) also contributed with 21 points and Colin Cavanaugh (Wilkes/RBC) added 18 points.

Game 2 notes:

• Both teams had 11 turnovers and made 14 three pointers
• WCT shot 59% from the field
• Game featured zero lead changes
• WCT’s largest lead was 43 points