In Tune: Former Neptune Teammates Carry ACI/Robin’s Nest to First JSBL Final

MANASQUAN — Dwaine Jones likes his chances of winning the 2025 Jersey Shore Basketball League championship with his ACI/Robin’s Nest team and it is not because he is playing on a team with a bunch of players that casual fans know.

It is because he is playing on a team with a bunch of players that know one another.

When ACI/Robin’s Nest fell behind by double-digits in the second quarter Monday vs. second-seeded Intern Helpers, Jones trusted his teammates would find their footing and his teammates trusted him to catch fire scoring the ball.

Jones led a scoring run that spanned parts of the second and third quarters and flipped the game in favor of ACI/Robin’s Nest, which went on to beat Intern Helpers, 102-97, to reach the JSBL championship game for the first time since becoming a JSBL team two seasons ago.

Jones went off for a game-high and JSBL-semifinal-high of 36 points while also grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out five assists and picking off a pair of steals in leading the way. He scored the final eight points of the first half to cut a 47-34 Intern Helpers lead to 47-42 at halftime and ACI/Robin’s Nest pulled even within the open minutes of the third quarter, 51-51.

“It felt like some jitters early on,” Jones said. “Our first time with a lot of people in the gym. They had a lot of veteran guys and most of our guys are fresh out of college. Once we got rid of the cobwebs, it didn’t surprise me that we got things going. You could see we were the younger, fresher team.”

Jared Kimbrough’s free throw with 3:45 left in the third quarter gave ACI/Robin’s Nest its first lead of the game, 62-61, only for Ray Salnave to answer with a three-pointer on the other end that reclaimed the lead for Intern Helpers, 64-62. Jones then countered with a three of his own for a 65-64 lead and ACI/Robins’s Nest did not give up the lead the rest of the way.

“Once he makes one or two threes, I’m like, ‘Aight, get him the ball,’” the 6-foot-8 Kimbrough said. “Me and him play pick-and-role and he passes it, he passes it. If not, I know he’s feeling it.”

Kimbrough and Sam Fagan were teammates with Jones at Neptune High School when the Scarlet Fliers were among the top five teams in the Shore Conference during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Jones said he and Kimbrough have played together since first grade and Fagan — whose father, Joe, has been the head coach at Neptune since the 2014-15 season — joined the duo during his freshman year in 2017-18, when both Jones and Kimbrough were juniors.

A season-ending leg injury in December of 2018 knocked Fagan out for the season, which caught up to Neptune when it lost to Burlington Township in the 2019 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinal.

A little more than six years later, the trio is challenging for a different championship and as they showed on Monday, the chemistry they developed in high school is still there, only now with refined talent for each player. Jones spent time at Coppin State, West Virginia State and finished his college career at the University of Charleston this past season. Kimbrough played at La Salle and the University of Hartford, while Fagan just completed his senior year at Monmouth University.

“A lot’s the same, but Jared is built like the Hulk now,” Jones said. “I just think all of us progressed and got a lot better. I think I’m a lot better than I was in high school. I think I was a good player and got a lot better. It makes it much easier now. There is much more flow.”

Jones shot 6-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc and 13-for-21 overall. Kimbrough, meanwhile, posted 15 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots. The two former teammates and longtime friends put on a pick-and-roll clinic that helped free Jones for many of his shots and also created multiple opportunities for Kimbrough to finish in the paint and showcase his passing ability.

“Me, Dwaine and Sam, we have played together a lot,” Kimbrough said. “We get back to what works. I know that Dwaine reads well off the pick-and-roll. I know I set screens and I roll hard. Either one of us is going to be open and we know that works for us, especially when we clear out a whole side. We just try to keep going back to it.”

Fagan chipped in three points, all of which came from the free-throw line.

“They are two of my best friends and we just know how to play off of each other,” Jones said. “Late game, I know let’s get Sam the ball because he is hitting free throws. Jared got the big guy on him with slow feet, I think I caught him one time and got the big dunk from him. I just think we know how to exploit mismatches.”

Two of ACI/Robin’s Nest’s other top scorers were college teammates with Jones at West Virginia State. Ibn Loyal went for 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots to aid Kimbrough in the paint, while Samier Kinsler contributed 15 points.

Christian Lyons and Josh Treadwell each scored 23 points and Salnave poured in 21 to lead Intern Helpers. Chris Smith put up 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the loss.

Jones and his squad will look to take down three-time defending champion Sterns Trailer in Tuesday’s championship game at Manasquan High School, set for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

“All of our guys are friends with me and Sam, so we mesh well together,” Jones said. “We’re not just picking up random guys with talent or a big name. We are really working for this.”

“We came in here feeling like we were one of the better teams anyway,” Kimbrough said. “Even if we lost a game or, we still were up there with the best teams. Honestly, we all have a chip on our shoulder, we all want to win and we’re driven by trying to win this whole thing.”