Mahwah, NJ:  The Ramapo College men's basketball team defeated Western Connecticut State University 83-80 to open the 2018-2019 season tonight at the Bradley Center. The Roadrunners stand at 1-0 overall while the Colonials begin the season at 0-1 overall.
 
Rashard Rodriguez opened the game with a three-pointer putting WestConn up before Rob McWilliams and Matt Latka recorded back-to-back layups for a one point lead 4-3. Aaron Samuel put WestConn back in the lead with a jumper before they stretched the lead to seven 15-8 with 13:44 left in the first half. Jordan Zagadou converted on an and-one play for Ramapo that started a 10-0 run that was capped off with a three-pointer from McWilliams for an 18-15 lead with less than 12 minutes on the clock. The score was tied 27-27 before WestConn's Legend Johnson sank a three-pointer for a three-point lead before Kashaun Barnes sank a pair of free throws, which started a 7-0 run. Barnes scored all seven points including a layup and three-pointer to go up 34-30 with under seven on the clock. Ramapo extended their lead to seven 42-35 when McWilliams put back a tip-in with four minutes to go before Samuel hit a pair of free throws and slammed down a dunk to come within three 42-39 with 2:34 left in the half. McWilliams scored a layup 46-39 with 1:10 on the clock before Tracey Cleckley nailed a three-pointer for the Colonials 46-42 with 34 seconds left. Ramapo missed a three-pointer before Andre Morgan grabbed the offensive rebound and put back a jumper as time expired to put Ramapo up 48-42 heading into the locker room.
 
Ramapo extended their lead to nine at the start of the second half as Rob Lewis converted on an and-one play with less than 17 minutes on the clock 57-48. WestConn went on a mini 6-0 run to shrink the lead to three 57-54 before Jason Battle would put the Roadrunners up nine with a 6-0 run of his own, scoring all six points including a three-pointer for a 63-54 lead with 10:29 left to play. The Colonials shrunk the lead to 64-63 with under eight minutes to play with a 9-1 run before Ramapo stretched it back to five with 7:17 on the clock with a pair of free throws from Latka 68-63. An 8-2 run by WestConn put them up one 71-70 with under six minutes to play before a pair of free throws from McWilliams put Ramapo up one 72-71 with 5:09 on the clock. In the final five minutes of action the Roadrunners did not give up the lead as they held off WestConn down the stretch. The Colonials shrunk the Roadrunner lead to one three more times down the stretch and each time the Ramapo offense answered. Latka put the team up two, 79-77, before Battle would sink a pair of key free throws to take a four point lead 81-77 with six seconds left on the clock. Ronald Jefferson hit a long three-pointer for WestConn to come within one for the final time 81-80. The Colonials fouled Barnes on the inbounds play before he sank both free throws for an 83-80 score. WestConn would get a last second three-pointer off but it would miss the mark as the Roadrunners came away with the non-conference victory.
 
 McWilliams posted a career high 27 points for the Roadrunners as he finished 11-20 from the field, 2-4 from the three-point line and 3-6 from the free throw line. He posted a double-double with a team high 12 rebounds while he added two assists and three steals. Barnes finished 10-11 from the free throw line as he collected 25 points along with four steals and five rebounds. Latka contributed with nine points while Battle and Lewis added eight points leach in the game. The Roadrunners shot 44% (26-59) from the floor in the game while they shot 37% from the three-point line and 67% (25-37) from the free throw line. Ramapo out rebounded WestConn 43-24 while they forced 20 Colonial turnovers that turned into 33 points for the Roadrunners.
 
Samuel scored a team high 24 points for WestConn as he finished 9-11 from the field. Rashard Rodriquez posted 15 points while Jefferson collected 13 in the game. The team shot 54% from the field (30-55), 56% from the three-point line (9-16) and 61% from the free throw line (11-18).
 
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, November 14th when they host non-conference rival Yeshiva University at the Bradley Center at 8pm.