SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
This week was another big one in the sports world. First, the National Football League is down to its final four. Unfortunately, the New York Giants will not be in that number, as they were blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles 38-7 on the road. Jalen Hurts led the Eagles on 16-24 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the air, and one rushing TD. Philly was up 28-0 at halftime. Philadelphia will host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. San Fran beat the Dallas Cowboys at home 19-12. While most were worried about kicker Brett Maher, it turns out that QB Dak Prescott was the problem, tossing a pair of key interceptions.
On the AFC side, the Kansas City Chiefs survived a Patrick Mahomes ankle injury and beat beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20. They will host the Cincinnati Bengals, who into snowy Buffalo and stunned the Bills 27-10.
In college basketball, the Seton Hall University men’s basketball won a big game against the Connecticut Huskies this past week. The Pirates shocked the #15 ranked 15-4 Huskies 67-66. Kadary Richmond led SHU with 18 points and 10 rebounds, KC Ndefo added 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Al-Amir Dawes scored 11 points. Seton Hall as a team shot 41 percent.
Although the win over UConn was nice, the momentum was lost after a tough loss to Marquette 74-53 at the Prudential Center. The Hall is now 12-9 overall and 5-5 in the Big East Conference.
As for the women, the UConn Lady Huskies beat the Lady Pirates 103-58 at Walsh Gym. Leading Connecticut was Aubrey Giffen with 22 points and 8 rebounds and Aaliyah Edwards with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jala Jordan led Seton Hall with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Currently, the Pirates are 13-7 overall and 6-4 in the Big East.
In local high school basketball, the annual Essex County Boys Basketball Tournament has started. This past weekend, West Orange beat Barringer 48-36. Leading the 9-6 Mountaineers to the win was Terrel Wifong with 12 points and 5 rebounds and Jhensen Toure with 10 rebounds. West Orange will play Science Park on Thursday. Also, Eagle Academy beat Bloomfield 66-52. Leading Eagle Academy was Taejean Wilson with 20 points and Asan Jones had 18 points. Bloomfield was led by Uche Anyanwu with 11 points. In another game, Nutley defeated Montclair 59-45.
Finally, in a pair of upsets, American History slipped by Orange 48-44. Marcel Clark had 15 points and 19 rebounds along with seven blocks. Also, Belleville stunned University 64-61. Connor Cook scored 16 points.
