Unbeaten New Jersey team routs Bentonville

Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony scored the first nine points, and Bentonville never recovered as the Tigers dropped a 72-50 decision Monday morning during the 15th annual Spaulding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.

"We didn't come out at the start with the belief that we were going to pull it out," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "The first quarter proved to be the difference in the game. After that, it was a real competitive game, but we spotted them such a big lead."

Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony 72, Bentonville 50

Bentonville^12^12^6^20^—^50

St. Anthony^29^12^14^17^—^72

Bentonville (9-6): Monk 22, Akbar 10, Robinson 6, Akbar 4, Costantini 3, Hemphill 3, Wallace 2.

St. Anthony (10-0): Cole 23, Mosley 14, Gist 13, Gibbs 7, Mading 6, Lord 5, Hayes 3, Joyner 1.

Bentonville (9-6), which began a four-game stretch this week, was short-handed as it faced unbeaten St. Anthony (10-0), New Jersey's top-ranked team. Sophomore guard Asa Hutchinson, who scored 15 points in the Tigers' win Friday against Springdale Har-Ber, suffered a shoulder injury during a practice session Sunday and did not play.

Arman Akbar, who started in Hutchinson's spot, accounted for the Tigers' first points, but the Friars proceeded to extend their lead to a 22-4 margin at one point in the first quarter. Bentonville did get within 35-24 on another Akbar bucket in the second quarter, but St. Anthony went to lead by as many as 30 points, 63-33, on RJ Cole's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

"It definitely changed our game plan," McMahan said. "We consider Asa as a counterpunch to Malik Monk and use him in that capacity in a lot of ways. The injury took that away from us.

"Without him, it was like a boxer going to a bout without one of his hands. We started Arman because he and Asa both play the same position, and I thought he did a good job for us."

Monk finished with 22 points to lead the Tigers, but most of his scoring came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. Akbar added 10 for Bentonville, which hit only 19 of 49 of its shot attempts and only 2 of 17 from three-point range.

"Our poor shooting was a tribute to their good defense," McMahan said. "That's a program that has been known for tough defense, and they did a good job of contesting our shots, especially from the perimeter."

Cole had 23 points to lead St. Anthony, followed by Jagan Mosely with 14 and Asante Gist 13.

Bentonville returns home for 7A-West Conference games tonight against Springdale High.

Sports on 01/19/2016

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