Willingboro Ends Northern Burlington's Win Streak

By Vincent Lewis
SJSports Staff Writer

It was one of those games between two basketball programs that was a nail-bitter until the final quarter. Meeting for their second time this season, the Chimeras from Willingboro were hosting the Greyhounds from Northern Burlington in a classic match-up between the two top teams from the Burlington County Liberty Division. Willingboro had their way against the Greyhounds during the season opener winning by double-digits. The second time around was a bit tougher, but Willingboro’s come from behind victory snapped the Greyhounds nine game-winning streak. With the Chimeras’ 73-67 victory, they would remain in first place.

Willingboro’s Dawan Browning had early success helping the Chimeras jump out to a five-point lead after one quarter. But the Greyhounds also had a talented player in Cedric Jackson and Anthony Barksdale who helped erase that deficit and turned it into a 32-30 lead at the half. The first half and most of the second half came down to the team with the least turnovers and converting those big-time shots down the stretch.

With the Greyhounds holding a one-point lead at the start of the final eight minutes of the game, Willingboro’s defense began to force some turnovers to swing the momentum in their favor. The Chimeras, trailing 65-62 with 1:54 remaining, began to get their perimeter shots to fall down the stretch. From that point on, Willingboro’s 11-2 run was enough to pull out the victory. Dawan Browning’s 26 points was a team high for Willingboro. Clinton Barnhill would score 15 points and Markesh McNair added 13 points for the winning Chimeras. Cedric Jackson finished with a game high 28 points, Anthony Barksdale dropped in 19 and Cornell Jones completed the game with 13 points for Northern Burlington.