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Fulton fuels Neumann-Goretti’s win over Roman

Like any high school basketball star who is already signed for college, Lamin Fulton - now at Ss. Neumann-Goretti, bound for St. Peter's - has regular talks with the man who will next year be his boss.

Like any high school basketball star who is already signed for college, Lamin Fulton - now at Ss. Neumann-Goretti, bound for St. Peter's - has regular talks with the man who will next year be his boss.

Since Fulton plays point guard . . .

"The coach [John Dunne] always says he wants me to be ready to come in, right away, and play turnover-free basketball."

Funny he should mention that. Or if not funny, maybe ironic?

In a battle yesterday between the Catholic League's glamour programs, N-G and visiting Roman Catholic, the 5-9, 175-pound Fulton averaged a turnover per minute through the first half of the initial quarter.

There was a walk. And another walk. And a palming violation. And an ill-advised pass directly to a Cahillite.

"My coach [Carl Arrigale] doesn't even have to tell me," Fulton said. "I came to the bench and said straight up, 'My bad, coach.' "

He smiled.

"Well, he let me hear it, also. Chewed me out pretty good. Said to me, 'You're a senior! You can't be turning the ball over!' But I didn't mind. He was giving me constructive criticism . . . This was a high-energy setting. Neumann-Roman. Big rivalry. I guess I was trying to force the issue a little."

In time, Lamin Fulton was the force.

As the Saints, in front of a sardined crowd, posted a 70-62 victory, thus collecting their 45th consecutive CL win both overall (including playoffs) and in the regular season (explanation momentarily), Fulton racked up a career-high 30 points, dealt four assists and committed nary a turnover beyond intermission.

He wound up shooting 10-for-21 (4-for-9 on treys) and 6-for-6. After registering 11 points in the first quarter, and settling for two in the second, he roared back for nine and eight in the last two sessions.

N-G's last loss in CL play came against Monsignor Bonner in a 2008 quarterfinal. The Saints went 19-0 in '09 and '10 and this was win No. 7 this season. The other 45-gamer breaks down like this: six to finish the '08 regular season, 16 apiece in '09/'10 and, again, seven this season.

The CL mark for consecutive regular season wins - 40 by Roman from '89 to '92 - was surpassed Jan. 14 vs. Archbishop Ryan. The league/playoffs standard - 49, likewise from '89 to '92 - also belongs to Roman. N-G's next five opponents, barring snow-related postponements, are Cardinal O'Hara, West Catholic, Archbishop Wood, Monsignor Bonner and St. Joseph's Prep Feb. 11 at N-G.

Fulton, as you can imagine, again and again faces the age-old dilemma for a point guard who can drive/jump shoot as well as he directs/dishes.

"Coach always tells me, when I play under control and within my team, there's nobody in the Catholic League that can really stick with me," said Fulton, who lives near 29th and Wharton and plans to major in business or sports management. "Some games, teams try to take me away from the start, so that's when you'll mostly see me passing.

"Today, it was mostly-a-heat-of-the-moment thing. I felt I could get good shots early and that was working out. Then I was making penetration and making passes to mostly John and Derrick."

Junior forward John Davis and junior forward-center Derrick Stewart, specifically.

Davis, a lefty, exploded for 20 points and 19 rebounds (nine offensive) while Stewart managed 10 and 11. Davis was able to thrive, in part, because Stewart was busy sentencing Roman's only true inside player, Fortunat "Junior" Kangudi (four points, eight boards) to nonfactor status; he got off just two shots from the floor.

Due to long-distance sniping, this tilt provided high entertainment.

The teams combined to drain 18 treys and 16 (in 31 attempts) were notched in the first three quarters. Roman had 11; five for Montana Mayfield (20) and three apiece for Shafeek Taylor (17) and Shep Garner (nine).

Tellingly, Roman bagged no fourth-quarter triples. N-G soph Hanif Sutton, who's becoming quite the human glove, muffled Mayfield and no one picked up the slack.

N-G began the last 8 minutes with a 10-2 run. The highlight? Two beyond-the-arcers by Fulton.

"Like every part of my game," he said, "I'm always working on my shooting. It's like anything else. You have to put in the time. I'm always staying after practice to work on my jumper."

To some degree, Fulton did not exactly sound giddy.

"I'm just doing what's expected of me by my coaches, and my family members," he said. "I've been here for 4 years. Have felt all the bumps and bruises. Last year, though I was still important, I kind of had that back-burner role. Now I have the leadership role."

And, despite occasional glitches, he has it down pat.