Brooklyn vs Bronx: Battle for the Eagle's Nest
This Sunday, we got a chance to see a PSAL double header featuring Eagle Academy Brooklyn and Eagle Academy Bronx. The first game featured both JV squads and the varsity teams got to play immediately after. While this was our first time in the nest, we felt comfortable, especially with us having both Eagle programs in PSAL championship game prediction.
JV Game
Eagle Academy Brooklyn got off to a ridiculous 17-0 lead after the first quarter and looked even stronger in the second. The squad from the BX scored early and started to compete more, but the score was getting out of hand quickly. Brooklyn finished their impressive first half with a 38-9 lead as the boys from the struggling Bronx team.
The third quarter was a solid back and forth between the two squads as they traded baskets on multiple possessions. Eagle Bronx won the third but not enough to close their massive gap from the first half. Brooklyn started to get into their bench in the fourth as Bronx started to run out of time. This first matchup was a victory for Brooklyn as they cruised to a 68-45 win. We wanted to make sure we mentioned 6’5” W Jaden Howard (Eagle BK ‘26) who scored a bunch and looks like a potential prospect with promise. The other prospect was 6’6” F Jayden Chandler (Eagle BK ‘26) who had excellent size, a great motor, nice touch around the rim and was a terrific rebounder with a ton of upside.
Varsity Game
Eagle Brooklyn got the scoring started after 6’7” F JoJo Jacobs (Eagle BK ‘25) scored off an offensive put back then 6’7” Mangok Lok (Eagle BK ‘25) did the same on the following possession. The Bronx squad got a triple from 6’6” SG Daye Kaba (Eagle BX ‘24), and 6’1” SG Eddie Munyak (Eagle BK ‘24) answered with a three of his own after a miss. The 6’3” PG Jakai Sanders (Eagle BK ‘24) knocked down a three. Jacobs scored, Kaba converted a tough and1, 5’11” PG Amir Dockery (Eagle BK ‘27) found Lok for an alley-oop, but Kaba was able to score. Lok hit two free throws, Eagle BX hit a three. They hit another one plus got a late bucket from Kaba to tie it up 16-16.
Kaba hit a free throw, he found a teammate for three, Lok converted an and1 poster, but Eagle BX hit two more free throws. Munyak turned his ankle and limped to locker room unable to return to the game or the bench. Jacobs scored inside, Sanders hit two free throws and then completed an impressive and1. The teams struggled a bit with sloppy play, Eagle BX scored, Brooklyn hit a free throw, Bronx answered with back to back baskets when Sanders finished a tough lay up to end the quarter.
Eagle Brooklyn led 29-27 after the first two quarters and got an opening basket from their leader Sanders. Jacobs found Lok for an alley-oop, Jacobs finished a tough basket, Kaba hit a free throw, but Brooklyn canned a three pointer. Dockery got a steal for an easy two, Kaba converted a layup with multiple defenders on him. Sanders made 1/2 from the line and Eagle BX came down for a quick score. Brooklyn was up by nine when the Bronx scored off a miss. Eagle BX ran a beautiful set for a late bucket, but Dockery sprinted down the court and finished a beautiful basket right before the buzzer.
Brooklyn took their lead into the fourth quarter and connected on a big three which got the crowd going. Sanders converted both free throws, Eagle went 1/2, Lok had a big dunk then Dockery stole the ball for a quick two. The score now 57-37 with 5 minutes to go as Eagle BX was quickly running out of time to make a comeback. Dockery scored again, Bronx missed. Sanders made a free throw, Lok finished another dunk while the Bronx hit two free throws. When the ball went out of bounds each team made a few substitutions as the game was pretty much decided.
Eagle Academy Brooklyn won 71-48 against a team they could potentially see late in the playoffs. While the Bronx ran out of energy, they had some moments in this game they just need to bring it if you’re going to take down Brooklyn this year. Sanders led Eagle BK in scoring with 18 points, Lok was excellent with 15 points, Dockery was the difference in the second half adding 13 points. Jacobs was fantastic as well finishing with almost a double-double while Kaba led Eagle BX with a team high of 17 points. We unfortunately did not get an update on Munyak but hopefully he can bounce back quickly.