Mahwah, NJ:  The Ramapo College men's basketball team fell to Eastern Connecticut State University in the Consolation game of the Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament 96-71. The Roadrunners now stand at 2-2 overall while the Warriors even their record to 2-2 overall.  Johnson & Wales University (3-1) defeated Purchase College (2-3) in the Championship game, 76-58.

In the Championship game, Johnson & Wales opened up the first half with two quick baskets, a jumper from Clayton Roker and a three-pointer from Tom Garrick to take a 5-0 lead. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run of their on to take a one point lead before the Wildcats' Anthony Jernigan nailed a three off a pass from Quarry Greenaway to go up two, 8-6. Johnson & Wales extended their lead 20-11 on back to back baskets from Jarell Lawson and Greenaway with just under 12 minutes to play in the half.  The Wildcats started to pull away in the half when they went on a 15-3 run down the stretch for a 43-22 lead. JWU went into the locker room up 46-22 at the half.  In the second half, the Wildcats held at least a 20-point lead throughout the half, the biggest lead coming at 16:55 on the clock with a 29-point lead, 55-26. Purchase cut the lead to 18 with the final basket of the game as JWU came away with an 18-point win. Garrick led all scorers in the game with 27 points and nine rebounds.  While Greenaway added 17 points and Roker added 13 of his own. The team shot 44% (29-65) from the field, 31% (6-19) from the three-point line and 66% (12-18) from the foul line. The Wildcats caused 23 Purchase turnovers that resulted in 17 points for JWU. Brandon Sillaro lead the Panthers with 14 points while Taylor Foster collected 11 rebounds to lead the team. Joel Neri posted a team high five blocks while he added nine points. Purchase shot 34% (21-61) from the field, 31% (6-19) from the three-point line and 55% (10-18) from the foul line in the game.

In the first game of the day, Eastern Connecticut State University defeated Ramapo 96-71. Tarchee Brown did not miss a shot from the field in the game scoring 44 points; he finished 15-15 from the field including 10-10 from the three-point line. Three other starters scored in double figures for the Warriors as Hugh Lindo tallied a double double, ten points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Leumene added 14 points while Trachone Preston contributed with ten points and a team high six rebounds.  

Brown led both teams with 29 first half points, including 8-8 from beyond the three-point line. The Warriors went into the locker room up 47-28 at halftime. ECSU shot 54% (18-33) from the field, 9-13 from the three-point line and 50% (2-4) from the foul line. The Warriors jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the first five minutes of the first half before Ramapo cut the lead to 15-11 on a made basket from Frank Nock with 13:49 on the clock. The Warriors then went on a 9-2 run capped off by a jumper from Kevin Leumene to take an 11 point lead, 24-13, with just under eleven minutes left in the half. Ramapo cut the lead back down to seven before the Warriors began to pull away with a 14-1 run in the final three minutes of the half. Brown started the run with a three-pointer and added two more during the run that was capped off with a dunk from Brown for a twenty point lead 47-27 with 50 seconds on the clock. Ramapo scored the final point of the game when Josh Ford sank the back end of a two shot foul, 28-47. The Roadrunners shot 37% (10-27), 33% (2-6) from beyond the three-point line and 60% (6-10) from the foul line in the half. Nock led the team with seven points while Christopher Moseley grabbed a team high five rebounds.

The Warriors controlled the second half, holding their biggest lead 77-43 on a jumper from Lindo with just under nine minutes to play in the game. Ramapo went on a mini 8-2 run sparked by a jumper from Ford (8:14) before Nock sunk a three-pointer (7:46) while Ford cut the lead to 28 points with a made basket with 6:51 left in the game.  The Warriors led by at least 24 points the remainder of the game, coming away with a 25 point road victory 96-71 and a third place finish in the Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament. 
 
2015 Roadrunner Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
Tom Garrick – MVP – Johnson  & Wales
Quarry Greenaway – Johnson & Wales
Joel Neri – Purchase College
Taylor Foster – Purchase College
Frank Nock – Ramapo College
Tarchee Brown – Eastern Connecticut State UniversitY