A Night to Remember: Kavion McClain makes JSBL history with 71 points in Ortho-NJ victory

After an impressive 36-point performance against the WCT Warriors on Tuesday night in his league debut, Ortho-NJ guard Kavion McClain, a Monmouth transfer, one upped not only his first night performance, but also every individual scoring performance in the 57 year history of the Jersey Shore Basketball League. McClain erupted for a record setting 71 points on Wednesday night to lead Ortho-NJ to a 133-106 win in a rematch against the WCT Warriors.

The scoring record that McClain broke was held for 28 years by Jason Fichter who scored 70 points on July 24th, 1997 at St. Rose High School. Fichter was a 6’8 forward who starred at CBA before heading off to Lehigh where he was a 3-year starter who concluded his college career in 1995. His performance came when he was a member of the now defunct JSBL franchise LB Financial in a game where he went 27-for-49 from the floor and 15-for-19 from the free throw line. When Fichter broke the record, it had previously belonged to the legendary Bob Verga who scored 61 points in the summer of 1972. There were several close attempts at the record over the years including a 66 performance by Justin Robinson in a 2017 playoff game and a 65 point performance from Lloyd Daniels in a 1999 playoff game.

While Jason Fichter did most of his scoring damage inside the arc back in 1997, McClain did much of his damage from behind the NBA three point line. McClain finished 28-for-50 from the field including 11-for-21 from deep and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. He also finished with 4 steals, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and just 2 turnovers.

“Second half I really just got hot” said McClain “I started making the three, I wasn’t making the three early on. Once I started making the three late, I knew I wasn’t going to miss to many shots after that.”

Ortho-NJ coach Jon Kaminski and his team struggled out of the gate with an 0-6 record, but have won 2 games in a row since McClain joined the team. Kaminski’s squad can look forward to having McClain in the lineup during the playoffs since McClain met the league minimum of 2 appearances for active Division 1 players to be eligible in the playoffs. Ortho-NJ is expected to be as dangerous of a 7-seed as a team can be with a full strength lineup that could feature the likes of McClain, Papas, Doug Edert, Mike Aaman, and potentially Trevis Wyche who the team could use a playoff exception on.

McClain will surely be a huge addition to Monmouth University’s team this season especially on the offensive end of the floor.

“It’s very exciting, we’re jelling, building relationships, it’s going to be a very exciting year.” said McClain

In a season that has featured great individual performances throughout the summer, McClain’s performance stands out amongst the rest. While players like Greek professional George Papas and Seton Hall legend Myles Powell both put up 50+ point games this year, McClain managed to do that in just a single half of basketball dropping 51 in the second half.

Many people would consider 71 points by one player to be a one-man-show, but several of McClain’s teammates put up strong stat lines in the victory. Aaron Goldstein (Staten Island) finished with 21 points on 9-for-18 from the field. Mike Aaman (Wagner) scored 16 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. Recent CBA graduate Justin Fuerbacher put together his best performance in his first season in the league with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Despite the loss, Andre Wells showed out for the WCT Warriors posting a triple-double. Wells scored 31 points on 14-for-21 shooting and had 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

ACI/Robin’s Nest holds off Larson Ford in a thriller

Earlier in the night, ACI/Robin’s Nest fought for a much-needed victory over Larson Ford by a score of 93-89.

ACI/Robin’s Nest was led by their big three of Neptune alumni. Sam Fagan led the charge with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 from behind the arc. Fagan was aided by Jared Kimbrough who registered 20 points and 8 rebounds and Dwaine Jones who finished with 19 points and 13 assists.

ACI/Robin’s Nest jumped out to a commanding 32-17 lead after the first quarter, but Larson Ford battled all the way back throughout the rest of the game and finally took their first lead with 54 seconds on a Je’lon Hornbeak three.

However, ACI/Robin’s Nest immediately responded with a clutch three from Jones on an assist from Gio Panzini with 22 seconds left to make it 91-89.

After a timeout, Peter Mauro was able to get himself down the lane and draw a foul with 10 seconds remaining giving Larson Ford a chance to tie the game.

However, Mauro missed both of the pivotal free throws which allowed Tyreek Montgomery to ice the game with 2 free throws of his own on the other end after a timeout.

Larson Ford was led by Joshua Morris and Peter Mauro who scored 29 and 26 points respectively.

Game One Notes:

• Dwaine Jones had 13 assists while Larson Ford had 12 assists as a team
• ACI/Robin’s Nest shot 46% from three finishing 12-for-26
• Only 2 lead changes in the game
• The teams were even on the boards as ACI/Robin’s Nest barely won the rebound battle 38:37

Game Two Notes:

• McClain’s 53.5 PPG for the regular season would have also been a JSBL record if he had played enough games to qualify
• Ortho-NJ won the rebound battle 56:47 in large part due to Aaman’s 19 rebounds and Fuerbacher’s 16 rebounds
• WCT struggled from deep shooting just 20.8% from behind the arc on 24 attempts
• Ryan Savoy scored 30 points for WCT on an efficient 13-for-24