Bouncing back

Noel Allen North Bergen

Noel Allen scored 12 points in the second half to lead North Bergen.

Click Here for photos from Bayonne at North Bergen.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

NORTH BERGEN – For Noel Allen and Dany Abrue, it had to be painful to watch. Both sidelined midway through the first quarter with foul trouble, the two Bruin standouts had to sit as an early North Bergen lead quickly morphed into a seven-point deficit at the half.

But when Abrue and Allen were able to return, they certainly made the most of the opportunity. The duo combined for 22 points in the second half as the Bruins recovered to defeat Bayonne last night 69-59.

Trailing by 11 points early in the third quarter, North Bergen (5-1) ripped off a 20-3 surge to regain the lead and never looked back. Limited to just one first-half point, Allen scored eight and had seven rebounds during the game-changing run.

“He’s our go-to guy and it’s very key to have him on the floor,” Bruins coach Kevin Bianco said.

The 6-foot-4 senior center broke a 47-all tie with a put-back off his own miss and then a minute later, converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to increase the lead to five.

“I felt like I had a little advantage in the third and fourth quarter because I had to sit in the first half,” Allen said.

Abrue added five points during the near eight-minute Bruin run. His 3-pointer with 2:02 left in the third gave North Bergen its first lead since early in the second quarter. The junior guard scored five more point in the fourth to hold off a late rally from the Bees (6-2)

North Bergen had gotten off to a blistering 10-0 start, but Abrue went out with his second foul with 5:29 left in the first quarter. After Allen followed him to the bench just 74 seconds later, the Bees (responded with a 19-2 run of their own to take the lead.

Behind the hot shooting of Bayonne’s Damian Williams (10 first half points) the North Bergen deficit grew to seven. But head coach Kevin Bianco survived the resisted the urge to rush his two standouts back into action as the Bees closed the opening half with an 8-2 run.

“You’ve got four quarters to play,” Bianco said. “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket right away. You’ve got to roll the dice and rely on others to get it done.”

“It was very frustrating,” Allen said. “But I have to work through it. I have to learn not to get in foul trouble and stay in the game.”

Glennon scored 12 points and was a critical component on the defensive end with three steals and taking a pair of charging fouls in the second half for the Bruins. North Bergen took six charges in total.

“It’s our biggest thing,” Glennon said. “If we take charges and create turnovers we’ll win. It’s a big part of our game.”

The junior along with reserves Peter Ramanand (seven points, four rebounds), Chris Rodriguez (seven points, six rebounds) and Jonathan McIntosh (eight points, four rebounds in the first half) helped to keep the game afloat for North Bergen.

Allen and Abrue had 13 points apiece to lead the team. Allen also had nine rebounds and five assists.

Williams scored a game-high of 17 points for the Bees. Elvonny Poole scored 10 in the loss for Bayonne.

Damian Williams Bayonne

Damian Williams scored 17 points for Bayonne, 10 in the first half.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bayonne Bees (6-2)	19	19	9	12	59
North Bergen Bruins (5-1)	18	13	23	15	69

Bayonne

North Bergen

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Vinny Mascalie	2	0	0	4
Malik Hameed	0	0	0	0
Tyriek Porch	3	0	0	6
Rodney Wilson	0	0	3	3
Elvonny Poole	3	0	4	10
Damian Williams	6	1	2	17
Jay Williams	3	0	1	7
Ryan Wolley	1	0	0	2
Steve Roberts	0	0	0	0
Steve Betancourth	0	0	4	4
Bryant King	3	0	0	6
Total	21	1	14	59

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Giovanni Rodriguez	0	1	0	3
Justin Glennon	3	2	0	12
Chris Rodriguez	3	0	1	7
Noel Allen	4	0	5	13
Dany Abrue	4	1	2	13
Orel Thompson	0	0	0	0
Alejandro Vasquez	0	0	2	2
Peter Ramanand	3	0	1	7
Christopher Taveras	2	0	0	4
Khalied Saled	0	0	0	0
Jonathan McIntosh	4	0	0	8
Total	23	4	11	69

Bayonne: King 6 rebounds; Porch 4 steals; D. Willaims 4 rebounds. North Bergen: Allen 9 rebounds, 5 assists; C. Rodriguez 6 rebounds; Glennone 5 rebounds; McIntosh 4 rebounds; Ramanand 4 rebounds.