New Monmouth University guard Kavion McClain leads Ortho-NJ to first win in JSBL debut

MANASQUAN — A new face entered the Manasquan High School gymnasium on Tuesday for his Jersey Shore Basketball League debut. It didn’t take long for everyone to know his name.

Kavion McClain, a recent Monmouth University transfer, dropped in a game-high 36 points on 13 of 25 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals to lead Ortho-NJ to its first win of the JSBL season in a 116-109 triumph over WCT Warriors.

McClain played just over 35 minutes in Ortho-NJ’s six-man rotation and helped the previously-winless squad jump out to a 30-19 lead after the first quarter. WCT Warriors cut its deficit to 85-78 in the third quarter and clawed all the way back to take a narrow lead during the fourth quarter, but Ortho-NJ pulled away in the final three minutes to get into the win column.

Aaron Goldstein, a rising junior at The College of Staten Island who starred at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, added 28 points on 10 of 18 shooting, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. Four of six Ortho-NJ players hit double figures with recent Central Regional graduate Jaycen Santucci (Georgian Court) scoring 21 points and six rebounds and former Raritan star Mike Aaman (Wagner, Rhode Island) delivering 18 points and grabbing 23 rebounds to keep pace for the league’s rebounding title.

McClain added a new dimension to Ortho-NJ’s roster and gave Monmouth University fans a glimpse of what’s to come when he begins his senior year next month. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound point guard came to Monmouth from Texas Southern University where he was a Second Team All-SWAC selection (Southwestern Athletic Conference) and became a team leader in his only season at the HBCU school located in Houston. He averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee who was an all-state player at Whitehaven High School in the city, McClain began his career with two junior college years at Howard (TX) before transferring to Abilene Christian University. He spent one year at Abilene Christian before heading to Texas Southern.

“I’m definitely going to bring a lot of leadership, speed, and a spark, for sure,” McClain said. “This is not my first go-around, so I’m definitely going to bring a lot of experience. It’s going to be a good showing. We have a good team and we want to win a championship.”

Tuesday night marked his return to action after taking time off to rest an ankle injury that had lingered since being tweaked during a college game this past season. He looked fully healthy and displayed quickness and finishing ability that should serve Monmouth well this upcoming season. He was turned on to the JSBL by his current Monmouth teammates, including WCT standout Jinup Dobuol, who is also a first-year transfer, WCT’s Quinn Peters, and RKE Athletic’s Jack Collins, plus former Monmouth players Xander Rice (Sea View Jeep), Justin Robinson (Sea View Jeep), and Sam Fagan (WCT), among others.

“I was looking for something else to do outside of practice but I was in a boot for the last three to four weeks,” McClain said of his delayed JSBL appearance. “It’s been helpful getting to know the guys and the league. I’ve been watching for the past couple weeks. A lot of the guys on the team are from the area so they’ve been showing us where to go, where to eat, so it’s been pretty easy to acclimate.”

When McClain entered the transfer portal, Monmouth’s history of success and the presence of head coach King Rice swayed him to relocate to West Long Branch.

“The guys who have been here before, the program and the pedigree it brings, and coach Rice,” McClain said. “He’s a confident guy and he built up my confidence to come here. We’ve built a great relationship.”

The addition of McClain proved to be a major boost to Ortho-NJ and could make the upcoming playoffs that much more interesting. He plans to suit up again on Wednesday night when Ortho-NJ and the WCT Warriors square off again, which would make him eligible for the playoffs. A win by Ortho-NJ would give them the No. 7 seed for the playoffs, while a loss would drop them to the eighth and final seed.

WCT Warriors was led by former Matawan/Brookdale/William Paterson standout Andre Wells with 26 points on 12 of 18 shooting, plus nine assists and six rebounds. Dobuol added 22 points and 11 rebounds and Ryan Savoy (Lakewood HS/New Jersey City University/Nichols College) totaled 20 points and eight rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting. Savoy was the Conference of New England Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-2025. Quinn Peters added 15 points on 5 of 8 from behind the arc and his fellow Manasquan High School graduate Ryan Frauenheim (Babson) chipped in with 12 points.

 

ACI/Robin’s Nest 114, Sea View Jeep 81

The race for the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs got a lot more interesting in the first game of Tuesday’s double-header when ACI/Robin’s Nest led nearly from start to finish against a short-handed Sea View Jeep squad that entered the night all alone in first place. ACI/Robin’s Nest led 20-14 after the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way to improve to 4-3, one game behind the first-place trio of Intern Helpers, Sea View Jeep, and Sterns Trailer, all of which sit at 5-2.

Six of eight players scored in double figures for ACI/Robin’s Nest. Samier Kinsler dropped a team-high 22 points along with 7 rebounds and 7 assists, while Dwaine Jones scored 21 points with nine rebounds on 10 of 17 shooting. Jared Kimbrough had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Gio Panzini also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Fagan connected on five threes to finish with 15 points, and Micah Kerr had an efficient night with 12 points on 5 of 8 from the floor.

Xander Rice scored 40 points to lead Sea View Jeep, which was playing without many of its top players, including the dynamic backcourt duo of Justin Robinson and Jesse Jones Jr, 6-foot-10 forward Josh Cohen (CBA/St. Francis/UMass/USC), and former Christian Brothers Academy/St. Anselm star Roy Mabrey. Regan Burke added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Chris Brady had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

On Thursday, Sea View Jeep will meet three-time defending champion Sterns Trailer to decide the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Sea View Jeep can fall to the No. 3 or No. 4 seed depending on the results of that game and two other matchups. ACI/Robin’s Nest can clinch the No. 4 seed if they defeat Larson Ford on Wednesday and Intern Helpers beats RKE Athletic on Thursday.