February 23, 2006

RAMAPO GETS CHANCE TO DEFEND NJAC CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER DEFEATING STOCKTON, 57-54 IN POMONA
Chris Rollman - Stockton SID

The Stockton men's basketball team was eliminated from the NJAC tournament with a 57-54 loss to Ramapo in the semifinal round. Tobias Smith (Newark/ Bloomfield Tech) paced Stockton with team highs of 16 points and eight rebounds. Mario Lancioni (Runnemede/Triton) tossed in 14 points for the Ospreys. In the second half, Stockton shot just 24.1 percent from the field and scored only 18 points while Ramapo rallied from a 14-point deficit.

Stockton led for the entire first half as Ramapo struggled with 29 percent shooting, including just 3-16 (18.8%) from three-point range. The Ospreys matched their biggest lead of the half at 10 points (36-26) on a layup by Derrick Williams (Atlantic City/Atlantic City) at the first-half buzzer. Lancioni led all players with 12 first-half points.

In the second half, Stockton built a 40-26 lead on a jumper by Smith with 16:23 to play. Ramapo responded with a 15-2 run that cut the Ospreys' lead to 42-41 with 10:14 on the clock. Ramapo eventually took its first lead of the game, 49-48, on a three-pointer at the 4:46 mark. Smith answered with a three-pointer for Stockton 23 seconds later that put the Ospreys on top 51-49. Ramapo regained the lead for good at 55-54 on a layup with 2:10 to play. Stockton had its chances but missed three shots and committed two turnovers in the final two minutes of the 57-54 defeat.