After first win over rival Bound Brook in 20 years, Manville seeks season sweep at home Friday nite

Hard to believe that two similar-size schools don’t play each other every year in every sport, but that was the case for the past decade, as Manville and Bound Brook hadn’t played each other in basketball for a decade.

Maybe it had something to do with the Crusaders winning all 25 matchups between then from 2005 through 2015, by wide margins in the later years of that stretch.

That all changed on December 16th, when the two teams played in Bound Brook, and the visiting Mustangs came out with a 50-43 win. Prior to that, Manville’s last win in the series had come on January 20th, 2005.

Friday night, the two will meet for a second time in a Skyland Conference Mountain Division game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Tip-off is at 6 pm, pregame starts at 5:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

Manville will enter the game at 6-5 (4-0, first place in the Mountain Division), having a bit of an up-and-down season not entirely in their control. They’ve had some injuries, and the team even got the flu bug together at one point. Looking healthier now, they come in off a 67-61 win Tuesday over South Hunterdon.

Bound Brook has a better overall record at 8-3, but is 3-2 in the division, in third place, with South Hunterdon ahead of them at 3-1. They’re coming off a 58-46 win at Roselle Park Saturday, but have been otherwise idle this week.

A win for the Mustangs could solidify their chances at the division title, with a rematch in two weeks with South Hunterdon likely deciding it. A Crusader win would make things interesting; on its own, it would drop them into a first-place tie with the Eagles, both a game ahead of Bound Brook in the loss column.

Bound Brook is a much higher-scoring team, averaging nearly 70 points a game, with four players in double-figures, led by senior Dorian Roundtree. He’s averaging 20.6 points per game, and scored 28 in the December loss to Manville. Junior Titus Godwin is scoring at a 17.9 point per game clip, with seniior Jasahn Canary averaging a double-double: 11.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. Sophomore Cameron Newton is averaging 10 flat per game.

Manville, though scoring less, also is balanced. Senior Josh D’Ambrosio is averaging 12.2 points a game to lead the team, also No. 1 in threes (17), assists (43) and steals (22). The next four down all are scoring between 9.3 (sophomore Owen Kenyon) and 6.5 points per game.

The first meeting was a good one defensively for Manville, which held the Crusaders to what remains a season-low, just 43 points. Bound Brook is 0-3 when scoring fewer than 50 points in a game, with losses coming to Princeton and South Hunterdon.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches: