Tag: Dennis McNulty

by Mike Pavlichko

Dennis McNulty steps down as Timothy Christian boys’ basketball coach

After six seasons as the boys’ basketball coach at Timothy Christian School in Edison, Dennis McNulty has stepped down, and will no longer teach at the school as well.

McNulty made the announcement Wednesday on his social media accounts.

In six seasons, he brought Timothy Christian to new heights and unprecedented success, reaching double digit wins each season, even in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, with standouts like Jalen Fleming – the school’s all-time leading scorer – and big man Chukwudi Raphael Mamah.

“Today I tendered my resignation and will not be returning to TCS next year on the court or in the classroom,” McNulty wrote in an Instagram post. “It was a grueling decision that was made after lots of prayer and contemplation. As you might imagine I have a mix of emotions.”

In his first season as head coach, he took a 5-19 squad in 2019 and went 15-10 with a third place finish in the GMC Gold Division at 13-5.

His teams were 73-66 overall, and 66-16 in divisional play in the GMC. They shared or won outright three division titles, sharing the 2021-22 Gold Division title with Wardlaw-Hartridge, the 2023-24 Blue Division title with Spotswod, and winning this past season’s Blue title outright, with a 9-1 record.

The Tigers – who were the ten-seed in this year’s GMC Tournament – also knocked off seventh-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen in the opening round, with a 56-53 road win.

“My prayer is that I left it better than I found it,” McNulty added in his post. “I solicit your prayers during this season of transition.”

by Mike Pavlichko

Timothy Christian connects from downtown, tops Edison to win first outright GMC Blue title

Last year, Timothy Christian shared the GMC Blue Division title with Spotswood. This year, they have it all to themselves.

The Tigers (12-6, 9-1 GMC Blue) hit 12 times from beyond the arc – with five different players connecting on treys – en route to a 74-37 win over visiting Edison as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio Thursday night.

That gives TCS not only the division title, but also a guaranteed top 12 seed in the GMC Tournament, which will be seeded Friday morning at Spotswood High School, with the girls at 9:00 am and the boys to follow. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live coverage on Twitter. Click here to follow.

The first time these two teams met, Edison trailed by just three at halftime, but Timothy pulled away in the second half. Thursday night, the Tigers picked up right where they left off, getting out to an 18-6 lead after one quarter, and 29-19 at the half. The lead was as big as 15 in the second quarter, and Edison had cut it to as little as six at one point.

But the three-point barrage from the Tigers was simply too much for the Eagles (11-9, 8-2 GMC Blue). They had 12 in the game, which is not out of the ordinary for them. They had 11 Wednesday night against New Brunswick, and had 12 back on January 18th in a 73-65 win over Middlesex.

Nathanael Sleman led with four of them, accounting for all 12 of his points. Elijah Pierre finished with 13, including three triples. Aidan Badger had one, as did 6-foot-7 big Chukwudi Raphael-Mamah, and Jalen Fleming hit three times from beyond the arc, finishing with a game-high 26.

That also leaves him 44 points from the 2,000-point mark at 1,056 points. He’s already the school’s leading scorer, taking the reins from Warren “Monty” Fitch, who finished his career with 1,819 when he graduated in 1992.

Click below for postgame reaction from Timothy Christian senior Jalen Fleming and head coach Dennis McNulty, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Fleming cracks 1,000 point plateau as Timothy Christian clicks on all cylinders in season opening win over JFK

Junior Jalen Fleming missed the last game of his sophomore season with a concussion, leaving him 23 points away from 1,000 for his career for the 22.6 point per game scorer. So you could forgive him if he has been thinking about it for the last ten months or so.

He won’t have to think about the next major milestone for a while, as his layup on a fast break with 20.4 second left in the first half of Timothy Christian’s season-opening 66-41 win over visiting JFK gave him 1,001 for his career.

Timothy Christian junior Jalen Fleming’s layup with :20.4 to go in the first half got him past the 1,000 point mark for his career in a GMC Blue Division game against JFK in Piscataway on December 15, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

It was the only real drama in Piscataway Friday night – in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – as the Tigers got out to a hot start, a 12-0 run over the first six minutes of the game. Fleming finished with 26, ending his night with 1,003 career points.

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It was also the debut of Chukwudi Raphael-Mamah, a junior who comes in from Nigeria, playing his first varsity game in the states. He finished with ten points, including a pair of mammoth two-handed flushes on fast breaks, while fellow junior Myles Dickerson added 20, including a jam and a trey.

Fleming had three triples in the game.

Timothy Christian led by as many as 32 in the fourth quarter, before Kennedy shrunk the lead a bit with both benches emptied.

JFK sophomore Grant Lorentzen had 13 points in defeat – including a trey – a career high for the sophomore, who – at 2.5 points per game last year – was the leading scorer available for Kennedy. 

The Mustangs found out last week they’ll be without their two top returning players through at least mid-January. Junior Marcus Bullock – the top returning scorer at 9.9 points per game – had surgery last Friday on his knee after his known injury turned out to me more serious than originally thought. And senior Matt Cook fractured his pinkie in gym class.

Click below for postgame reaction from Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Timothy Christian junior Jalen Fleming
Timothy Christian head coach Dennis McNulty
by Mike Pavlichko

Timothy Christian opens season vs. JFK with high hopes of taking GMC Blue

In his first four seasons as head coach of the Timothy Christian boys’ basketball team, the Tigers have won no fewer than 12 games under head coach Dennis McNulty, and that was a 12-3 campaign during the COVID-shortened season.

This could be the year they break through, though, after moving up from the GMC Gold to the Blue Division. South River graduated a ton, but will still be there. Spotswood will be in the mix as well. And probably others.

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But this year could be something special at the tiny school hidden alongside Ethel Road in Piscataway.

There’s the return of sharpshooting specialist Myles Dickerson, who averaged 16 points a game and led the team with 45 threes last year in his first season at TCS. Jalen Fleming already is just 23 points away from becoming a thousand-point scorer, and he’s only about to start his junior year. A 22.6 point per game scorer for his career, he averaged 21.8 points a game last season and was second on the team with 47 steals.

And then there’s Chukwudi Raphael Mamah, who comes to Piscataway via Enugu, Nigeria. He’s 6-foot-7, can stretch the floor, shoot, and pass. McNulty says his biggest challenge will be adapting to the physicality of the game here.

Friday night, the season opens for Timothy, when the Tigers entertain JFK in a GMC Blue Division game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko has the call with pregame at 5:15 pm, and tip-off at 5:30. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Timothy Christian head coach Denis McNulty talk about the Tigers’ 2023-34 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Timothy Christian unfazed by big schools; Tigers face Franklin Saturday in Skyland-GMC Challenge

They play in in opposite counties, in divisions perched on opposite ends of the size spectrum.

Timothy Christian is a member of the GMC Gold Division, which features Middlesex County’s smallest teams, like South Amboy and East Brunswick Tech.

Franklin plays in the Sklyand Conference Delaware Division, which features some of the largest schools in Somerset County, like Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan, as well as perennial powerhouse Gill St. Bernard’s.

But that doesn’t matter to third-year Tigers’ head coach Dennis McNulty, who likes to challenge his team, and, in fact, already has done so this year, having scheduled a last-minute tussle less than a week before Christmas against Monroe.

Though the Tigers lost 18-point per game scorer Ronnie Burwan from last year, they return senior guard Gian Wagner, who also scored 18 a game last season, while averaging four rebounds. And others have helped dampen the blow as well.

Saturday, it’s another large school on the docket for TCS, which plays Franklin at 4 pm in the Skyland-GMC Coaches vs. Coronavirus Challenge at Bound Brook. You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action; pregame is set for approximately 3:45. You can listen for free by clicking here.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Timothy Christian head coach Dennis McNulty: