BASEMENT WATERPROOFING IN West Long Branch

For the better part of 30 minutes, Monmouth played its best basketball of the season, pushing Syracuse to the limit inside the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York Monday night.

And while it ultimately goes down as their tenth loss in 11 games this season, it was the kind of performance the young Hawks can build on.

Two nights after absorbing a 37-point loss at Princeton, Monmouth actually had a lead in the second half. The Orangemen eventually pulled away for an 86-71 victory, but the effort represented a step forward for the Hawks as a team.

It was the most competitive Monmouth’s been in four games against high-major foes this season, having dropped the first three by an average of 37 points.

“I’m proud of these kids,” Monmouth coach King Rice said. “I’m happy that they continue to fight. I ask our fans to please stay with us. These kids are incredible. We’ve had a hard schedule. I never make excuses but all of them had the flu last week, we didn’t practice and Princeton whipped us.

“This is going to be a good team. We just have to keep believing, I’ve got to keep believing in them, and they have to believe in each other.”

Monmouth took a 52-51 lead on a three-pointer by freshman guard Jack Collins with 15 minutes to play. But Syracuse (7-4), winners of four straight, went on a 15-2 run to take control of the game.

Collins, a Manasquan native, was on target throughout, finishing with 20 points, hitting five shots from beyond the arc. Junior forward Myles Foster added 17 points.

“This is a great game for us,” Collins said. “It’s a huge stage, a big game, a lot of great players on the other team. And we were right there for 30 minutes or more. So it is just about finishing for us.

“We don’t have a lot of people who believe in us outside, but we know as a group we can compete with anybody when we put it all together. We’re still really young but it’s starting to come. We’re playing a lot of these high major teams and it’s going to be good later when we get into conference games.”

Guard Judah Mintz led the way for Syracuse with 24 points, while guard Joseph Gerard III added 16 points.

The level of competition drops very little when Monmouth returns to West Long Branch, with Charlotte, sporting an 8-2 record, coming to OceanFirst Bank Center Saturday, followed by a visit from 8-3 Yale, which lost to Kentucky by 10 points Saturday. And that’s before UNC Wilmington, 8-3, shows up on Dec. 28 for Monmouth’s first-ever CAA game.

Monmouth came out fast, as Klemen Vuga, who got the start at center, hit a pair of baskets inside, before Collins drained back-to-back triples to give Monmouth a 10-4 lead.

The Hawks moved the ball well against the Syracuse matchup zone, with a Collins entry pass to Foster leading to a layup that pulled them within 24-21.

At one point Monmouth hit seven straight shots, and a Jakari Spence jumper made it 9-of-11 to extend the lead to 38-33 with 2:25 remaining. But Girard drained a pair of late 3-pointers allowing Syracuse to get to the locker room with a 42-40 lead.

Here are three quotes from Rice on Monday night's performance:

On Monmouth’s execution against the Syracuse zone:

“I’ve got to give coach (Rick) Callahan a lot of credit for scouting them and knowing how we could attack them. Our kids did a tremendous job just taking our time instead of just rushing like we’re always rushing trying to prove something. I tried to explain to them, you’ve already proven yourself just by being here. Just relax and play. Take your time and we can pick it apart. And we did a tremendous job against the zone.”

On Jack Collins’ infectious confidence:

“We tried to get everybody to relax. We’ve been too tight and guys aren’t playing like themselves. And we tried to loosen them up today, loosen them up in the pregame talk. And Jack is just a confident kid but tonight he kind of got us going because his confidence was so high it made everyone else confident.”

On responding to the Princeton loss:

“We all felt awful the other night because that was not OK how we responded at Princeton. Even knowing we were sick all week, you never do that. A lot of people are watching and we didn’t fight. And that’s letting everyone down. So we had an off night where we didn’t fight like we should, but these kids are fighters and they keep showing you that they are fighters.”

Pregame

Why Monmouth basketball's 1-9 start is unsettling; plus 5 keys vs. Syracuse

Let’s forget the games against high-majors, of which tonight’s at Syracuse (8 p.m./ACC Network) will be Monmouth’s fourth of the season. Those have the potential to go badly even for top Monmouth teams over the years.

The unsettling losses are the ones that hit closest to home – literally.

Saturday night’s game at Princeton was the 22nd time the two Central Jersey rivals have met since then Monmouth coach Wayne Szoke, a former Pete Carrill assistant, set up the first meeting in 1991.

It’s been a great series ever since. When Princeton knocked defending national champion UCLA out of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Monmouth had beaten the Tigers during the regular season. During the Hawks’ 12-game winless streak to open the 2018-19 season, they dropped a one-possession decision to Princeton.

But the 91-54 loss at at Jadwin Gym was the most lopsided result in the series. Cairn University, a Division 3 program, only lost to Princeton by 34 points 10 days earlier.

Then there’s Rider, a staple of Monmouth’s schedule over the past four decades. None of the previous 59 meetings had been decided by more than 21 points. But the Broncs hammered them by 36 points on Nov. 30.

This young group may well develop into a good team. But right now they’re struggling like few Monmouth teams ever have.

None of this is the fault of the players, mind you. Coach King Rice set the incredibly difficult schedule which, combined with injuries - 6-9 junior Jarvis Vaughan is expected to return from a knee injury in the coming weeks - and an inability to land an experienced player and/or scorer in the NCAA transfer portal has led to a 1-9 start.

Three tough non-conference games remain, before they get into their first Colonial Athletic Association season. There’s a chance they won’t be favored in a game the rest of the season.

With that as the backdrop, here are five keys for Monmouth against Syracuse. And check back later Monday night for analysis of the game:

1. Stop fouling

Freshman center Amaan Sandhu had five fouls in five minutes, and he and fellow big man Klemen Vuga each had two fouls by the first media timeout. Monmouth committed 23 fouls, and Princeton took 27 free throws. It’s impossible to move forward when you’re in foul trouble every game.

2. Compete

Monmouth’s lost its first three high-major games by an average of 37 points. While Syracuse has played better recently, they lost to Bryant and Colgate at home. There’s a path to being competitive here.

3. Help inside

This will be as tough an assignment in the paint as Monmouth will face all season. Syracuse senior center Jesse Edwards is averaging 15.6 points and 11.4 rebounds, while 6-9 forward Benny Williams and 6-7 forward Chris Bell round out a stout frontcourt.

4. Small wins

Try to win a four-minute segment. Then try to outscore Syracuse to the next media timeout, and so on. Because Monmouth has to start stringing together some smaller wins in order to get some longer runs of good play.

5. Lean on experiences

Play like you’ve been there before, because you have. Monmouth's played 10 games in some of the toughest places to play in the country, which should help at Syracuse. Everyone on the roster has played extensive minutes this season.

Woody Guthrie's music embraced America from sea to shining sea, but he had a unique connection to New Jersey.

That connection and more will be explored at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Great Hall Auditorium on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch as the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music hosts a conversation and book signing with Nora Guthrie, Guthrie's daughter, and Bob Santelli, the executive director of the archives.

“Guthrie played in Elizabeth and Newark for the longshoremen in the ‘30s,” Santelli said. “He was here a lot in New Jersey.”

Guthrie's 1940 landmark album "Dust Bowl Ballads” was recorded at Victor Records’ Camden studios. Later, Guthrie was hospitalized at Greystone Park State Hospital in Morris Plains when he was suffering from Huntington's disease in the '60s.

He had a famous visitor: Bob Dylan.

“Every weekend he would come over and serenade Woody Guthrie with a song,” Santelli said .

Nora Guthrie, co-author of the new book “Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art, Words and Wisdom” with Santelli, was there.

“She'll tell that story,” Santelli said. “There’s a lot of interesting things and she’s a wonderful woman.”

“Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art, Words and Wisdom” is a collection of Guthrie’s writings and art collected by Nora Guthrie and Santelli. Essays by Chuck D, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and Arlo Guthrie are included in the book, recently bestowed the 2022 Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award at the ASCAP Foundation.

Monmouth University English Professor Michael Thomas will moderate the conversation with Santelli and Guthrie, founder of the Woody Guthrie Archives.

The Great Hall Auditorium is located inside the university's Shadow Lawn mansion, the setting for the 1982 film version of “Annie.” Free parking is available in Lot 14, off Route 71 on Norwood Avenue.

The Archives will also host “An Evening with David Sancious,” on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, at the Vogel theater inside the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. Living Colour drummer and multi-Grammy winner Will Calhoun will join Sancious on stage.

Sancious is a former member of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band who has played with many of the greats of music. Tickets start at $49. Visit thebasie.org for more information.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

Greetings from the Asbury Park Boardwalk.

City musicians will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.,” with a performance of the album in sequence Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at the Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park.

The performers will also play one of their own songs. “Greetings” was released on Jan. 5, 1973, from Columbia Records.

“There is only one 50th anniversary, and we are paying tribute the Bruce Springsteen,” said Peter Mantas, the entertainment director of the Langosta Lounge. “(He's) the patron saint of Asbury Park. He put us on the musical map, and he is the reason Asbury Park is the land of hope and dreams.”

Musicians include Cranston Dean performing “Blinded by the Light”; Desiree Spinks singing “Spirit in the Night”; “Growin' Up” by Bobby Mahoney; Arlan Feiles on “Lost in the Flood”; Doug Zambon of the Van Saders doing “Does this Bus Stop at 82nd Street?”; and Ryan Gregg playing “The Angel.”

Show time is 8 p.m. and admission is free. Visit www.langostalounge.com for more info.

In other “Greetings” anniversary news, the big “The 50th Anniversary: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” symposium from the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University has just released additional tickets after initially selling out.

The event is moving from the Great Hall Auditorium to the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth in West Long Branch. Attendance will be capped there at 500, organizers said.

The day-long event will include appearances by original E Street Band members Garry Tallent, David Sancious and Vini Lopez, along with former Springsteen manager Mike Appel. There will be forums, musical performances and a film made just for the event by the Archives featuring Tallent, Sancious, Lopez and Appel.

Registration, $50, is required and lunch is included. Visit springsteenarchives.org for more information.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

There are plenty of options for shoppers looking to bring a real Christmas tree home this year near Long Branch-Eatontown:

LONG BRANCH, NJ — People in the Long Branch-Eatontown area who prefer fresh-cut Christmas trees — whether they cut down trees themselves or buy from a retail lot — shouldn’t have any trouble finding them in 2022, according to a survey of Christmas tree growers by an industry trade group.

The prediction by the Real Christmas Tree Board comes after a survey of 55 wholesalers that supply two-thirds of the market for fresh trees and 1,500 U.S. adults ages 21-49.

“The real Christmas tree industry met demand last year, and it will meet demand this year,” Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board, said in a news release. “This is essentially a year without surprises.”

Residents of the area have plenty of options, sortable by ZIP code and by type, on the Real Christmas Tree Board website. There is also a website for the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association.

Choose-and-cut farms:

Garden and retail centers:

Home improvement stores:

Real Trees May Be Pricier

Trees, like everything else, may cost a little more this year. Tree growers answering the Real Christmas Tree Board’s survey said growing costs have increased. About 36 percent of respondents said costs were up 11 percent to 15 percent compared to last year, while 27 percent said costs increased 16 to 20 percent. Another 10 percent said the year-over-year increase in production costs was more than 21 percent.

As a result, 71 percent of growers said they would likely increase wholesale prices. That means trees could cost anywhere from 5 percent to 20 percent or more.

Consumers seem to be taking the expected price hikes in stride.

“While our grower survey tells us wholesale prices are likely to be higher for real Christmas trees this year, our consumer survey tells us people expected as much,” Gray said in the news release. “The good news is fans of real Christmas trees say they believe the trees are worth the price, and they are willing to pay more this year if necessary to get one — and that’s not a surprise either.”Growers’ expectations of a healthy season are also tempered by fears of supply chain disruptions, the No. 1 concern of 44 percent of growers. About 35 percent said their top concern is that inflation-strapped consumers will cut real Christmas trees from their lists this year. About 21 percent of respondents cited labor availability concerns.

The Origin Of Christmas Trees

The origin of the Christmas tree can be traced to long before the advent of Christianity, according to History.com.

In ancient times, it was commonly believed the sun was a god. It appeared to be sick as daylight waned in the winter, but evergreens thriving during winter were a reminder that the sun would become strong again and lush greenery and warmth would return.

Evergreen trees were seen as a symbol of eternal life among ancient Egyptians, Hebrews and Chinese. Pagans throughout Europe used evergreens in their homes to represent fertility and new life.

Christmas trees were first used by devout Christians in Germany. The The 16th century Protestant reformer Martin Luther is believed to have added lighted candles to trees. He was composing a sermon as he walked home on a winter evening and was struck by the sight of stars twinkling above the evergreens, and recreated the scene in a tree in his family’s main room.

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Alex Jaffa, a senior loan consultant with Eastern Union, has arranged a $78,575,000 loan to refinance a 1,017-unit portfolio of twelve multifamily properties consisting of eleven sites across nine New Jersey localities, along with one property in the Bronx.

Eastern Union is one of America’s largest commercial real estate mortgage brokerages.

The loan, secured through Kearny Bank, carries a fixed 4.25-percent interest rate over a ten-year period.

“Leveraging our understanding of the lending marketplace, Eastern Union successfully secured highly competitive rates for one of our long-standing clients,” said Mr. Jaffa. “This expansive portfolio transaction illustrates the way a top-performing brokerage can demonstrate value in today’s challenging financial climate.”

“Alex Jaffa is a highly talented broker with a powerful aptitude for client service,” said Eastern Union president and CEO Abraham Bergman. “He’s earned respect in the industry for his integrity and his professionalism.”

The properties, representing a total gross building area of 931,411 square feet, included eleven sites in the following nine New Jersey locations:

Audubon: Imperial House. A four-story, elevator-served, multi-family property at 35 South White Horse Pike built in 1975. With a gross building area of 50,504 square feet, the property has 56 units. Owned by Imperial Realty Associates LLC.

Bellmawr: Timber Cove. Three two-story, garden apartment buildings at 924-928 Creek Road built in 1975. With a 57,090-square-foot gross building area, the property has 59 units. Owned by Timber Cove Realty Associates LLC.

Bordentown: The Village at Bordentown. A four-building, two-story, garden-style multi-family complex at 100 Lucas Drive built in 1972. With a gross building area of 61,010 square feet, the property has 52 units. Owned by Lucas Bordentown LLC.

Haddon Heights: Haddon Court. A three-story, walk-up, multi-family property at 700 Station Avenue built in 1940. With a gross building area measuring 23,631 square feet in size, the property offers 31 units. Owned by Haddon Realty Associates LLC.

Haddonfield: Haddonfield Manor. A four-story, elevator-served, multi-family property at 2-10 Linden Avenue built in 1940. With a gross building area of 40,706 square feet, the property has 41 units. Owned by Park Lane Properties/Haddonfield Manor.

Haddonfield: Kingsway Apartments. A four-story, elevator-served multi-family property at 274 Kings Highway East built in 1940. With a 30,241-square-foot gross building area, the property encompasses 37 units. Owned by Park Lane Properties/Kingsway Apartments.

Laurel Springs: Spring Garden Apartments. Five three-story, walk-up apartment buildings at 1000 West Atlantic Avenue built in 1970. With a gross building area of 73,300 square feet, the property has 92 units. Owned by Laurel Spring Gardens Associates LLC.

Lindenwold: The Village at Laurel Creek. A 32-building, two-story, walk-up multi-family property at 1990 Laurel Road built in 1973. Measuring 220,000 square feet in gross building area, the property has 274 units. Owned by Heathers Realty LLC.

Long Branch: Three two-story garden apartment buildings at 175 Long Branch Avenue built in 1964. With a gross building area of 34,800 square feet, the property offers 54 units. Owned by LB Buena Vista, LLC.

Long Branch: 87 Cottage Place. A two-story, garden apartment complex built in 1960. With a 22,024-square-foot gross building area, the property has 28 units. Owned by LB Cottage Place, LLC.

Stratford: The Residences at Whitehall Apartments. An eight-building, three-story, walk-up multi-family property at 506 South White Horse Pike built in 1975. With a gross building area measuring 248,136 square feet, the property has 220 units. Owned by Woodmere Investments Associates LLC.

The portfolio also included the following New York City property:

The Bronx: A six-story apartment building at 1164 Cromwell Avenue in the borough’s Concourse section built in 1926. With a gross building area of 69,969 square feet, the site encompasses 73 units. Owned by Penny Lane Realty LP.