Mahwah, NJ: The Kean University men's basketball team came back to defeat Ramapo College tonight, 76-71, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up. The Cougars improve to 11-7 overall, 6-7 in the NJAC. The Roadrunners stand at 4-13 overall, 3-10 in the NJAC.
The Roadrunners were able to jump out to a quick 8-1 lead, after back-to-back three-point shots from
Justin Bladen and
Peter Gorman. A three-point shot from Dorein DePina with 6:42 left in the first would bring the Cougars within three and force Ramapo to take a time out, 20-23.
Mark Howell sank a three-pointer for the Roadrunners with 2:37 left in the half, followed by a layup from
Anthony Corbo to stretch the Ramapo lead 35-26. Patrick Strzala would net two points for Kean before
Mark Howell recorded the final two points of the half on free throws, 37-28.
With 17:08 remaining in the game JD Daniels sank a three-pointer followed by a jump shot from Jailen Jamison closing the gap, 39-42. The Roadrunners would answer back, going on a 7-0 run behind five points from
Marquise Kindel, 49-39. Ethan Stith sank a three-point shot with 8:03 to go to close the gap to one, 54-55.
Jordan Myers would be fouled and sent to the line making his one of two free throws. Stith would then sink another three points putting the Cougars on top for the first time the entire game, 57-56. Letrell West sparked an 8-0 run for the Cougars, capped off by a jump shot from Nate Lyles, 67-60, forcing the Roadrunners to call a timeout.
Mark Howell would come out of the time out to sink a three-point shot for the Roadrunners, 63-67. Corbo then sparked a 6-0 run for the Roadrunners with 2:33 left to play capped off by free throws from
Jordan Myers, 71-70. Jamison would net two points with 1:06 to go and the team would tack on four more free throws to take home the 76-71 victory.
Ramapo was led by Gorman with 16 points and dished out six assists, Myers netted 15 points, while Corbo recorded 13. Kindel pulled down 11 rebounds for the team. Ramapo shot 25-55 (46%) from the field, 8-12 (67%) three-point line, and 13-23 (57%) from the free throw line.
Strzala led the Cougars with 18 points and West netted 16 points and seven rebounds. Kean shot 20-48 (42%) from the field, 10-23 (44%) from beyond the three-point line, and 26-31 (84%) from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, February 2 when they travel to Rutgers-Newark for an 8pm New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up.
