Ramapo College of New Jersey Athletics

The 2002-2003 men’s basketball team saw one of the most successful seasons in the history of the program. The team finished the year at the NCAA “Elite Eight” after breaking many Ramapo records along the way. The Roadrunners finished the season standing 26-4 overall, 17-1 NJAC.

Ramapo broke the all-time school record for wins (24) set by the 1991 “Final Four” team while also breaking the all-time school record for win streak (11) set by the same team. Ramapo posted 17 straight wins and recorded the best conference and overall records in the school’s history. The Roadrunners were the first to ever clinch 1st place in the conference for basketball. Individually, three-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, Tennyson Whitted, was the first player in school history to score over 1,000 points and dish out more than 900 assists in a career.

It was a heartbreaking end to one of the best seasons in Ramapo’s history. They surpassed the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They conquered the “Sweet 16” to advance to the “Elite 8”, and were five points short of heading to the “Final Four”. The 2002-2003 team had much to be proud of.

Ramapo started the season taking 1st place in the Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament defeating SUNY Maritime, 114-61, and FDU Madison, 95-77. Ramapo continued their win streak dropping conference rivals William Paterson, 78-57, the College of NJ, 95-86, Rutgers Camden, 93-77, and Rutgers Newark, 85-70 before recording their first loss of the season, and only conference loss, to Kean University, 68-84. With a 2-1 record at the Cactus Jam Tournament in Arizona, Ramapo headed home to continue down the 17-game win streak road. The team posted conference victories against Stockton, New Jersey City, Rowan, and Montclair before beginning conference play all over from the top. They swept the College of NJ without a blink of an eye recording an 84-70 victory. William Paterson was conquered with a 71-60 win as well as Montclair, 64-54, Rutgers Newark, 70-55, and Rowan, 90-76. The Kean Cougars headed to Mahwah and the Roadrunners got revenge earning a 102-70 victory, clinching 1st place in the NJAC and a #1 seed in the post-season tournament. Ramapo swept the final regular season games before heading into the NJAC Tournament where they would face the #4 seeded Profs of Rowan University. Ramapo took the game defeating Rowan for the third time in the season. In the NJAC Finals, Ramapo’s win streak was broken, and the NJAC Championship was lost with an 84-86 double overtime loss to the Red Hawks of Montclair State. Earning a NCAA at-large bid, the season wasn’t over. Ramapo received a 1st round bye and played host to the Merchant Marine Academy on March 8th. The team headed into the NCAA “Sweet 16” with a 92-76 victory over the Mariners. The Roadrunners faced Montclair State for the fourth time in the year and recorded a 89-80 victory, this time in Wooster, Ohio. It was the “Elite 8” that ended Ramapo’s season where on March 15th they faced the host, the College of Wooster, in front of their 3,450 fans and fell just short 64-68 ending the 2002-2003 season.

Individually, Charles Ransom led the team with 604 points while recording a .366 three-point field goal percentage. Ransom also added 66 steals and 61 assists. Whitted led the way in steals with 117 and assists with 262 while Rasheen Gadsen pulled down 176 rebounds and Jay DeGroat netted 66 threes shooting 66-150, 44%. Jared Milligan was second on the team in scoring with 274 points and Kevin Stokes led the way in blocks with 30. Amin Wright and Greg McBain came in at the end of December and combined for 250 points while Eliazar Velez and Ben Allen combined for 179.