As this year's edition of CBA Basketball readies for the 2016 Shore Conference Championship on Saturday Night vs. Mater Dei Prep, we look back on the last Colts conference title of 2010.



Forty-one games. Heading into the 2010 Shore Conference Championship game, the CBA basketball team had not lost to a Shore opponent in 41 straight games, including being crowned conference champions in 2009.



The 2010 opponent was crosstown rival and second-seeded Middletown South, who played the Colts close in the regular season. The Eagles were playing their best basketball of the season, so CBA knew it was not going to be easy, especially on a neutral court at Brick Memorial High School.



The Colts were led into battle by senior point guard Roy Mabrey and junior forward Matt McMullen, but the two standouts struggled through the first half and the Eagles went into the break with a four-point lead.



When the third quarter of play opened, junior J.P. Koury and senior R.J. Hobbie ignited a 23-8 run that gave CBA control of the game. Koury scored nine points, while Hobbie added seven during that span.



The Colts exposed the Eagles' defensive woes in that third quarter, while ramping up their own defensive prowess. Middletown South scored just six points in the first four minutes of the third quarter, before going scoreless over the last minute and a half as CBA went on a 10-0 run.

The fourth quarter was closing time for CBA with Mabrey and McMullen imposing their will on the Eagles to seal the victory. The Colts cruised to a 60-44 win and won their second straight SCT.



Mabrey turned in a classic point guard performance of 12 points, five assists and four steals, while McMullen scored 16 to go along with seven rebounds. The third quarter catalysts, Koury and Hobbie, added 17 and 15 points, respectively.



The win was the Colts' seventh SCT title in 11 years and 16th overall.



That was then. Now in 2016, CBA Basketball is once again the championship game, this time against the red-hot Mater Dei Prep. The Colts return key players, including seniors Pat Andree, Jack McGuire and John Salcedo, from the team that lost to Rumson-Fair Haven in the 2015 Final. Experience matters, and those seniors have it.



Andree averages nearly 26 points and 10 rebounds per game, while McGuire adds 15 points per contest and Salcedo is a top passer in the Shore with over seven assists. The Colts have also received enormous contributions from seniors Sam Houston and Nick Mugavero, especially in this Shore Conference Tournament.



Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Monmouth University's MAC. Tickets go on sale at 3:00 p.m. and Colts fans are encouraged to get there early.