JCC of Central New Jersey Men's Basketball

Welcome to 2026!!! We've reached the midpoint in the 2025-26 season, and this year's league remains one of the most tightly contested in memory. Every game this past week was decided by seven points or fewer, and three required extra time - a clear sign of how competitive the league has become. So let's get right into the game action:

Going Buck 67 - Ball Don't Lie 60 (OT): Both teams came into this game with 3-3 records and both teams were hoping to head into the long break with a winning record.  This game was a back and forth close battle for most of the first half though Going Buck did build a 10-point lead lead late in the half. That lead would eventually be cut to 8 points (34-26) at halftime. Ball Don't Lie were shorthanded in this contest, playing without the beast in the middle, Big Dan Amsellem, and his absence was felt big time, especially late in the game when they seemed unable to corral a defensive rebound.  It was a very balanced scoring attack for Going Buck in the first half. Captain Jon Ackerman scored 6 of his 14 points in the first half (and also added 6 rebounds and 4 assists) while Will Howarth put up 9 of his 20 points in the first half (12 rebounds).  The scoring was not very balanced for Ball Don't Lie, but I guess when you're shooting as well as captain Adam Hynes was, he didn't need much help offensively.  Adam scored 19 of his game-high 39 points in the first half and he seemed to never miss (he hit 18/24 shots from 2-pt range). The second half got started with Ball Don't Lie clicking on all cylinders, turning what was an 8-point deficit into an 11-point lead (48-37 Ball Don't Lie).  It was more of the same from Adam Hynes but he got some help from his longtime partner in crime, Ben Carr.  Ben had another great all around statistical game with 14 pts/11 rebs/6 assists. The Hynes/Carr duo scored 53 of their team's 60 points though they did get solid defensive and rebounding contributions from Justin Chodos (11 rebs) and Adam Jiminez-Schulman (9 rebs). Ball Don't Lie led by 11 points with just under 6:00 remaining and that is when Going Buck did what they always seem to do. Slowly but surely they cut the deficit though it was still an 8-point lead (52-44) with under 3 minutes to play. Going Buck has a way on maintianing their composure even when ther situation seems dire and it has allowed them to rescue several games from the jaws of defeat. This game would be no different with big shots late by Rory Schulman (16 pts on 5/7 shooting) and Jon Ackerman. They managed to tie the game up with under a minute remaining in regulation and even had a potential game-winning last second shot by Ackerman which clanged off the rim.  The overtime period was all Going Buck. Ball Don't Lie reverted a bit to early season form when they blew late game leads due to costly turnovers and an inability to prevent offensive rebounds (no Dan hurt late). Going Buck outscored Ball Don't Lie 15-8 in overtime to cement the dramatic comeback win. Ben Gerstein added 8 points (including 4 in overtime) while Jake Granoff was held to just 4 points (coming off two big offensive games). The win moved Going Buck to 4-3 while the loss dropped Ball Don't Lie to 3-4. One small bit of controversy from this game - this basket by AJS in the video below was never credited to Ball Don't Lie and considering that the game went to overtime, it could've potentially made a big difference:

Money Ball 68 - Big Ballers 64 (OT): The Monday nightcap featured the underperforming 3-3 Money Ball squad taking on the 1-4 Big Ballers. Unfortunately for Big Ballers, they were missing top pick, Dave Moreno, though he is expected to return to the lineup after the break. Despite the 1-4 record coming into the game, Big Ballers have been playing much better as of late. They came out ready to play on this night, opening up an early 13-4 lead. Money Ball battled back to tie the game at 20 and eventually headed into halftime trailing by 3 points (29-26). It was a very balanced scoring effort for Big Ballers, with all 6 players scoring between 7 and 14 points. James Floyd led the way with 14 points (along with 5 rebs/3 assists) followed by "Stone Cold" Alex Stone pouring in 13 points (3/5 from deep). Lorne Bergstein, Andrew Merel and Bryan Minasian added 10 points apiece (captain Minasian also added 16 rebounds) and Shane (decided to close out the) Calendar (year) with 7 points.  The second half saw the two teams battling back and forth with Money Ball building a 6-point 50-44 lead only to see Big Ballers answer with a 6-point run to tie it at 50-50 with 9:00 remaining.  That's pretty much how the second half went, with Money Ball building 6-8 point leads only to see Big Ballers respond. Money Ball was led by Andi Hasaj, who seems to get healthier with each passing week. Andi scored 28 points (and added 13 rebounds) but did miss a ft in this game, bringing his season FT average to a mere 91%. I hope he's working on that during the break. Captain Adam Driansky kept his incredible season rolling, tossing in 17 points/10 rebs/6 assists.  Herb Smith had his best game since suffering an eye injury earlier in the season, and his offensive contributions will be needed in the coming weeks as Andi will miss the month of January in Florida. Money Ball held a 60-56 lead with 1:20 remaining but Bryan Minasian converted 4 straight clutch FTs to tie the game up at 60-60 with 25 seconds remaining. Andi missed a tough three-pointer with 5 seconds left and Andrew Merel's half court heave at the buzzer bounced off the rim to send the game into overtime. Justin Dank kicked off the overtime scoring with a big three-pointer and Money Ball never trailed again. Big Ballers have really come together as a team in recent weeks and it'll be interesting to see if the addition of Dave Moreno to the lineup elevates this team to another level. But for now, Big Ballers head into the break at 1-5 while Money Ball sit at 4-3.

Shortland Blazers 75 - Laub & Order 71: This was one of the most fun games of the week with both teams really playing excellent offensive basketball. Shortland Blazers' Jakub Zabek was coming off an incredible 46 point explosion so it was clear the gameplan for Laub & Order was to shut Jakub down. Laub & Order captain Mike Gerstein decided that he was up for the challenge and was the primary defender on Jakub throughout the game. No way would he allow Jakub to score 46 points on him. Now hold onto that thought while we temporarily pause for a quick advertisement because how else could we afford to pay the commish and statisticians for their countless hours spent on this league:

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And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. As mentioned earlier, Mike Gerstein took on the challenge of locking down Jakub. But captain Gerstein decided to do a little scoring of his own, with 17 of his 27 points coming in the first half. Gerstein shot an impressive 9/14 and added 6 rebounds and 8 assists. But equally impressive was his accomplishing his goal of not allowing Jakub to score 46 points - holding him to a paltry 44 points. But seriously, Jakub has now scored 90 points in his last two games, which might be more than Household Hoopers has scored all season. Jakub scored 23 of his 44 points in the first half (15/31 for the game including 6 threes made and even found the time to add 4 assists). As I've said all season long. it was just a matter of time and Jakub has definitely made up for his early-season shooting struggles. Even more impressive is that after each of his last two 40+ point performances, Jakub decided he hadn't abused defenders enough and headed over to IHM for more of the same. Laub & Order went into halftime with a 4-point lead (42-38) and expanded the lead to 10 points with 12:00 remaining. Eric Sass had yet another double-double with 17 points (8/11 shooting) and 12 rebounds (plus 5 blocked shots) and teammate Mike Huberman added 18pts/6 rebs/4 assists/3 steals of his own.  From that point on it was the Jakub show, whether it was step back threes, fast break layups, it really didn't matter.  Shamar Mason was the only other player for Shortland to score double digits, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half. Captain Jason Narod, feeling cozy in his tailored drersey (the name of his patented dress/jersey combo), had a solid game with 9 points/8 rebs/4 assists and Brian Schiller played his typical smothering defense and contributed 8 points/13 rebs. Laub & Order clung to a small lead until Shortland tied it at 62 with 4:00 left. The teams traded baskets over the next 2:00 of game action and the score was knotted at 67 with 2:00 remaining. Here's how it played out:

• Schiller layup made it 69-67 Shortland
• Next possession Huberman turnover followed by Jakub getting fouled (hit both for a 71-67 lead)
• Each team missed front end of 1-and-1 on next two possessions
• Gerstein drove and made a great pass to Sass for the easy layup (71-69 with 35 secoonds left)
• Laub & Order fouled Jakub on next possession and he made both fts (73-69 lead)
• Gerstein was fouled on ensuing possession and made both fts (73-71 with 27 seconds left)
• Adam Parkes was fouled with 20 seconds left and missed both fts.
• Gerstein grabbed the rebound and rushed down court and appeared to draw a foul on the drive but was instead called for a questionable travel.
• Narod was fouled and made both fts (75-71 final score)

The win moved Shortland to 3-3 with some momentum heading into the break while the loss dropped Laub & Order to 2-4. The challenge is set for Shortland's next opponent (Ball Don't Lie) to hold Jakub to under 44 points.

Household Hoopers 55 - Billy Hoyle 51: As has often been the case with games invoving Household Hoopers, this game was a very low scoring slogfest. The game was tied 7-7 with just 10:30 left in the first half when Household Hoopers went on a 17-1 run over the next 6:00 minutes of play to take a 24-8 lead with just 4 minutes remaining. The score was 29-13 at the half, just the type of score Household Hoopers like.  The scoring for the Hoopers was very balanced with 5 players scoring between 6-14 points.  Jason Pompeo led the way with a 14 pt/10 reb double-double. Colin Neff added a double-double of his own with 11 pts/14 rebs/4 steals. But it was the defense by Colin that was the big difference in this game. As has been the case all season long, Colin has taken it upon himself to guard the opponent's top offensive player and in most cases he's shut that opponent down. Colin was tasked with guarding one of the best offensive players in the league in Siri Carpien and held him to 8 points on 2/11 shooting. Billy Hoyle, as a team, hit only 4 shots in the first half, including 2 three-pointers by Pat O'Donnell. Pat continues to surprise opponents with his three-point shooting, connecting on 3/5 for the game en route to 14 pts/10 rebs/5 blocks.  The other thing that has happened often in Household Hoopers games is that they've gotten out to early leads but have squandered many leads in the second half (basically the anti-Going Bucks). And what was a 16-point halftime lead was cut to just 2 in the final seconds of the game. The second half was the Eddie Ford show, with Eddie scoring 19 of his 22 points after the intermission. Eddie couldn't miss in the second half and it was a wild bank three that cut the lead to 2 points in the waning seconds. Clutch free throw shooting by Jonathan Roy and Ed Seiden in the final minute helped seal the victory for Household Hoopers. Jonathan Roy scored 11 points, Ed Seiden added 8 and Seth Niessen contributed 6 points in the winning effort. The biggest disparity in the box score was the rebounding difference in favor of Household Hoopers (40-23). The win moved Household Hoopers to 5-2 despite averaging the fewest ppg while the loss dropped Billy Hoyle to 2-4.

Fast Break 79 - We Got Game 77 (2OT): Similar to the Shortland vs Laub & Order game, this was a really well played offensive game and quite the contrast to the game played prior to it.  This was clearly the game of the week in a week filled with great games. This game featured two of the most underrated players in the league squaring up against one another and both had outstanding games (Mike Glanzman and Ben Huber). Fast Break has been the best team throughout the season thanks in large part to averaging a league-high 70+ ppg. Their frenetic pace, on both ends of the floor, exhausts most opponents and usually leads to a lot of steals and fast break points. Surprisingly, We Got Game actually won the steal battle by a fairly large margin (14-5). We Got Game was missing Jake Lillie and Alex Fisher for this game (but had Josh Knapp filling in) while Fast Break was playing without Dave Kobi. Fast Break got off to a 36-28 first half lead thanks in large part to league leading scorer Jorge Mangui.  Jorge scored 18 first half points (including 4 from long range) to pace Fast Break. When Jorge is hitting his three-pointers, it is nearly impossible to stop him because if you play up on him he will just drive by you. And when teams have tried double-teaming Jorge, he's been able to find teammates for open looks, whether it's TJ Farrell/Seth Frankel/Pete Strauss from deep or Mike Glanzman cutting to the basket and using his Hakeem Olajuwon-like footwork in the post.  Glanzman scored 8 of his 22 points in the first half and also played great defense in limiting Matt Ceccarelli on the other end. Meanwhile, Pete Strauss hit 2 of his 3 triples in the first half. For We Got Game, Ben Huber scored 9 of his 26 points in the first half. Much like Glanzman, Huber seems to have a limitless number for post moves and is such a gifted finisher in the lane. Steve Shelton scored 9 of his 11 points before the break and Josh Knapp scored 6 of his 13 points to help keep pace with Fast Break. We Got Game opened the second half on a 17-6 run to build a 3-point lead with 15:00 left in the game. From there, the two teams traded baskets the rest of the way leading to a 65-65 tie with two minutes remaining. Neither team would score another point in regulation with Mike Glanzman barely missing two shots in the finals seconds. Captain Matt Ceccarelli was able to get a little going in the second half, scoring 8 of his 11 points after the intermission. After several misses by both teams to begin the overtime period, here's how the rest of the overtime played out:

• Ben Huber finally got the scoring going on a tough fast break finish to take a 2-point lead
• Fast Break Captain Gary Levine answered with a tough drive of his own to even the score.
• Following with the theme of tough driving baskets, Omer Nimrodi hit a difficult drive of his own to give We Got Game the lead with just 32 seconds remaining.
• It was Jorge Mangui's turn as he blew by his defender for the easy layup to tie the score at 69-69 with 19 seconds left
• After a timeout, We Got Game looked a little discombobulated and barely got off a last second attempt by Omer which fell well short. On to double overtime
• TJ Farrell kicked off the second overtime with a huge three-pointer (72-69 Fast Break) - (TJ put up 7 pts/9 rebs)
• Omer followed with a bank three-pointer to tie the game (Omer finished with 14 pts/5 rebs/6 assists)
• Yet another post finish for Ben Huber gave We Got Game a 74-72 lead with 2:30 left
• That was followed by a pull up mid range jumper from Jorge to tie it at 74 apiece (Jorge had yet another huge game with 33 pts/13 rebs/4 assists)
• Ben Huber was fouled on the ensuing possession and made both fts (76-74 We Got Game 1:45 left)
• Mike Glanzman said don't forget about me and had one of his patented left-handed drives and finishes to knot it at 76.
• Ben Huber was fouled again but made only 1/2 fts to take a 77-76 lead
• Glanzman turned the ball over, one of Ben Huber's 7 steals in the game (along with 7 rebs and 4 assists)
• Omer Nimrodi was then called for a travel (questionable call) which was caused by an aggressive full court press by Fast Break (54.9 seconds left)
• Jorge found Glanzman in the paint and after some incredible footwork finished with a step through layup (78-77 Fast Break 35.9 seconds left)
• A sloppy turnover by Omer and Glanzman diving for a loose ball and a timeout gave Fast Break the ball back
• Then came some more controversy. Jorge was trapped right by the sideline and it appeared that Jorge called a timeout. But instead a very iffy foul was called puttting Jorge on the line. (he hit 1/2 fts to bring the score to 79-77 Fast Break with 16 seconds left)
• Ensuing possession, inbound pass went to Matt Ceccarelli who found Steve Shelton open in the lane but Steve missed the tough shot thanks to the help defense from Pete Strauss. Jorge was fouled with 1.5 seconds left and missed both fts.  But We Got Game never got a final shot off.

This was a tough loss for We Got Game but after crushing Household Hoopers last week and taking Fast Break to double overtime, things are definitely looking up for them. The loss dropped We Got Game to 3-3 while the win moved Fast Break to 5-1 and sole possession of first place in the league.

Mid-season stat leaders:

Points:

Jorge Mangui - 31 ppg

Jakub Zabek - 27 ppg

Andi Hasaj - 24 ppg

Adam Hynes - 23.8 ppg

Rebounds:

Dan Amsellem - 18.4 rpg

Bryan Minasian - 13.2 rpg

Colin Neff - 11.7 rpg

Assists:

Ben Carr - 5.8 apg

Andrew Merel - 4.8 apg

Mike Huberman - 4.6 apg

Steals:

Mike Huberman - 3.2 spg

Jorge Mangui - 3.17 spg

Ben Huber/Colin Neff - 2.5 spg

Blocks:

Pat O'Donnell - 1.8 bpg

Eric Sass - 1.5 bpg

Dan Amsellem - 1.4 bpg

Three-pointers made:

Jakub Zabek - 21

TJ Farrell - 18

James Floyd/Jorge Mangui - 16

Mid-season Awards:

MVP: Jorge Mangui (runners up: Andi Hasaj/Adam Hynes/Jakub Zabek/Colin Neff - in no particular order)

Offensive POY: Jorge Mangui/Jakub Zabek (Jakub making a big recent push)

Defensive POY: Colin Neff

Rookie of the Year: Andi Hasaj (honorable mention - Jakub Zabek/Pat O'Donnell)

Best Dressed: Jason Narod

GM of the Year: Gary Levine

Most Improved: Dan Amsellem/Jake Granoff/Jason Stern

Power Rankings: (these are so tough because I think aside from Fast Break clearly being #1, every other team is so close)

1. Fast Break - Led by Jorge Mangui, this team beats you with speed and scoring (averaging easily a league high 75 ppg). But Jorge is far from a one-man wrecking crew. Mike Glanzman has been performing at an all-star claiber. TJ/Pete Strauss/Seth Frankel have been bombing away. And Gary is still one of the most undervalued players by providing so many intangibles that a stat sheet doesn't recognize.
2. Money Ball - I still think that when healthy and at full strength this team is as tough as any. The 1-2 punch of Andi Hasaj and Adam Driansky is the best in the league. They will have to figure out how to get wins without Andi in January but he'll be back when it matters. Herb Smith seems to be returning to early season form and the combination of Justin Dank and Steve Bachman will have some big games
3. Household Hoopers - This team is basically the anti-Fast Break. Fast Break averages 75 ppg but gives up 69 ppg. Household Hoopers averages 52 ppg but only gives up 48.5 ppg. Two totally different ways of winning games and both have led to the top 2 spots in the standings. It'll be interesting to see these teams meet in two weeks. This team is led by Colin Neff (and his defensive intensity) and the father-son duo of Jason Pompeo and Jonathan Roy. It's just a question of whether they can score enough points because they haven't given up more than 56 points in a game.
4. Ball Don't Lie - They did just lose to Going Buck but they took them to overtime without Big Dan. Adam Hynes is playing the best I've seen him play in years and he has surrounded himself with a good supporting cast. Ben Carr leads the league in assists. AJS and Brandon Wendell have been great fits. They are only 3-4 but are better than their record
5. 5/6/7 are interchangeble and especially difficult to rank so I'll just do them alphabetically Going Buck - Just beat Ball Don't Lie and have not had many games at full strength. Will Howarth has been consistently great all season. Captain Jon Ackerman has missed a few games but has continued his play from last season. Jake Granoff and Rory Schulman are great 3rd and 4th options that take advantage of favorable matchups.
6. Shortland Blazers - Jakub Zabek is on a tear lately and it'll be interesting to see if anyone can stop him. His combination of deep range, quick release and ability to get to hole makes him a really tough matchup. And then they have Shamar Mason, who can basically do all those things as well though he is more physical and really like to challenge defenders in the lane and with his killer spin moves and pull up game. The question for Shortland is right in their name - are they too short? Captain Jason Narod, who has been playing great lately, certainly hopes not and they will be getting Drew Mandelbaum back.
7. We Got Game - Captain Matt Ceccarelli's team has been playing great over the last two weeks.  They crushed Household Hoopers and took Fast Break to double overtime. Matt is only averaging 14 ppg and I expect his offensive output to increase in the weeks to come. However, Ben Huber has played like an all-star, Omer Nimrodi is one of the best pure pgs in the league and Steve Shelton/Jake Lillie/Alex Fisher have all played well offensively. They've also faced every opponent at near full strength, which is not the case for most teams.
8. Laub & Order - This team is much better than their record, in my opinion, and I expect that to change in the second half. Mike Gerstein is coming off his best offensive performance of the season. Eric Sass has been playing like a first round pick, dominating on both ends of the floor. Mike Huberman, when playing under control, is one of the most effective two-way players and Jason Stern has really improved in his second season in the JCC league.
9. Billy Hoyle - Siri Carpien is the ageless wonder and continues to perform at an MVP-level. However, this team has lost three straight and need to get out of this recent slide. Pat O'Donnell is a beast on both ends and don't fall asleep on this three-point shooting. If they can get consistent production from Eddie Ford, like this past week, and from Zach Sicherman and co, they will be really tough. When it's just been Siri and Pat, teams have been able to focus their defensive attention on just trying to shit those two down.
10. Big Ballers - This team is so hard to accurately rank because they've been missing their best player, Dave Moreno, for most of the season. However, in his absence, James Floyd and Andrew Merel have really stepped up. Both are outstanding playmakers with great court vision. Captain Bryan Minasian is about as consistent a player as there is in this league - just chalk him up for a double-double, defensive intensity and just a selfless teammate. 

Wth the standings tightly packed and individual performances heating up, the second half of the season promises more close contests and potential playoff implications for every team. Stay tuned as teams jockey for position down the stretch.  Good luck to all.