Mahwah, NJ: The Lions of the College of New Jersey fought from behind tonight to defeat the Ramapo College men's basketball team, 76-71 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up at the Bradley Center. With the victory the Lions improve to 13-10 overall, 9-7 in the conference. Ramapo falls to 13-10 overall and 7-9 in the NJAC.
Ramapo led the entire game until the 3:34 minute mark in the second half when a basket from Eric Murdock put the Lions on top. The team never looked back as Bobby Brackett scored a team leading 25 points and completed the double-double with 11 rebounds. Jayson Johnson collected 16 points in the win as Murdock and Eric Klacik collected 12 and 11 points respectively. The team combined hitting 26-62 (42%). Murdock and Alex Cirlincione each dished out five assists and Johnson pulled down nine rebounds.
James Long opened the game with a three-point goal for Ramapo, and after a basket from Brackett, Long hit another Long one to put Ramapo ahead, 6-2 with 18:06 on the clock. The Roadrunners worked to an 11-4 lead before TCNJ chipped away to come within one, 15-16, with two free throws from Skyelar Ettin with 12:41 to play.
Josh Ford would put Ramapo ahead, 20-15 forcing a TCNJ timeout at 11:27. Over the next four minutes, Ramapo climbed to a ten-point advantage with a basket from
Nick Stanek with 7:48 to play. With 6:44 left on the clock, the Lions went down a 13-6 run to come within three points at 1:40 with a basket from Brackett off the steal, but the Roadrunners responded scoring the final four points to head into the locker room with a 41-34 lead. The Roadrunners hit a combined 13-24 (54%) in the half behind nine points from
Thomas Bonacum. Brackett led the Lions with 12 points as the team went 13-34 (38%).
Brackett nailed down a jumper at the 17:34 minute mark in the second half to bring TCNJ within five, but Bonacum responded with a three-pointer to push Ramapo ahead 46-38. The Lions would work to come within five over the next four minutes after a jumper from Murdock fell through closing the gap, 45-50. With 10:45 to go, Klacik hit a jumper to come within three points (51-54), and two free throws from Stanek would put Ramapo back on top by five, 56-51 with under ten to play. After a basket from Elias Bermudez and Brackett, TCNJ would trail by just one point, 55-56, before Stanek and Ford would strike again hitting a jump shot each to go ahead 60-55 with 7:56 to go, forcing a TCNJ timeout. With 4:30 to go, an and-one play from Johnson put TCNJ within one, 63-64, before the front-end of a two shot foul from Brackett tied the game at 64. TCNJ took their first lead of the game at 3:34 when Murdock laid one in off the steal to take a 67-66 edge. The Lions went up 70-66 with three free throws from Klacik, and Bonacum closed the gap to 68-70 with just over two minutes to play. TCNJ shot five free throws and Johnson sank a basket in the remainder of the game to walk away with the 76-71 victory. Brackett led the way with 13 points as the team shot a combined 13-28 (46%). Bonacum led the Roadrunners with eight points. Ramapo shot 9-31 (29%).
Bonacum finished the night with a team leading 17 points and ten rebounds, while
Frank Nock and Ford finished the night with ten points. The Roadrunners finished the night shooting 22-55 (40%).
Congratulations to senior
Jermaine Dunkins!
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, February 14th when they travel to Rutgers Camden for a 2pm tip-off.
