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Marvel guard Ron Grant dribbles past Express guard Dwayne Ailey during the Express' 90-79 win on Saturday. Photo: www.plainfieldsportsnews.com/Anthony Davis, Sr.
Jersey Express head coach Cassandra Smith in Saturday's win had to make new defensive adjustments at halftime to avoid a second consecutive loss to the Maryland Marvels. After playing the first half close to their division rivals, the changes on defense sealed a 90-79 victory at East Orange Campus High School.
The Express were playing man-to-man defense in the first half, but struggled to control a lead. They switched to a half-court trap defense in the second half that caused the Marvels to turn the ball over multiple times. The Express outscored the Marvels 50-36 in the second half, leading to no worries on the offense end
"With the offense, we pretty much didn't want to change it because we had to wait and see what [the Marvels] wanted to do defensively," Smith said. "But they pretty much stayed in the same defensive zone. So I figured we would just make the change on the defensive end and it paid off."
The Express (7-3) opened up the fourth quarter with a 13-3 run in the first five minutes. Lack of ball control by the Maryland offense prevented them from making open shots.
Express guard Troy Goodman led his team with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The new team captain prior to Saturday had this game circled on his calendar after losing to the same team last Sunday on the road.
"[The Marvels] were kicking our butts in Maryland, so I wanted to come back home and at least get a win," Goodman said.
Leading all scorers for the Marvels (4-7) was guard Maurice Davis with 25 points. The Marvels, a first-year American Basketball Association franchise, are now trailing the series 2-3 to the Express and will play them again in East Orange on Feb. 21.
The Express will play their next home game this Saturday for another marquee game against the New York City Thunder. The Thunder in the last meeting defeated the Express 102-85 in East Orange on Dec. 13.
"I have a lot of confidence in my guys, so I'm not worried about the next home game at all," Goodman said after the game.
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