The Pleasantville boys basketball team had a proven scorer returning this season in senior forward Malik Morgan. He’s an athletic player who can get to the rim, score in transition and also rebound on the defensive end.
But graduation hit the Greyhounds hard, and it was unclear coming into the season who would step up to provide some additional scoring to help Morgan out.
That question might have been answered in the early going, as 5-foot-11 guard Divine Anderson has emerged as another solid offensive option for new coach Butch Warner. Anderson scored a team-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead Pleasantville past Bridgeton in the season opener, then had another outstanding game as the Greyhounds edged Pemberton on Saturday in the Ocean City PBA Tipoff Weekend event.
For his efforts, Anderson is our Bunting Family Pharmacy Athlete of the Week.
Anderson showed off an array of skills in Pleasantville’s come-from-behind, 66-64 victory over the Hornets on Saturday. He shot 7-of-13 from the field for a game-high 23 points, connected on two more 3-pointers, added seven rebounds and went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. And while he did have six turnovers, Anderson more than balanced that out with nine assists and a steal in 32 minutes.
The biggest points of the game came from Anderson, as he calmly sank a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds left to give Pleasantville a 66-64 lead. The Greyhounds (2-0) hung on when Morgan rebounded an errant layup attempt on the other end as time expired.
“A few possessions before that, I missed some free throws. So I had to make up for that and make some clutch free throws at the end. That’s one of the best feelings you could ask for,” Anderson said after the game against Pemberton. “We just had to keep fighting. We knew that with all of the conditioning that we’ve been through that we would have enough stamina, and that they were probably getting tired. We just needed one stop and we got the stop we needed.”

— Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer