Mahwah, NJ: The Kean University men's basketball team survived a second half comeback by Ramapo College as the Cougars held on for a 69-64 road victory. The Cougars move to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the NJAC while the Roadrunner now stand at 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Ramapo took a two point lead heading into halftime as
Justin Bladen sank back-to-back three-pointers, 35-33. A 10-2 run by Kean to start the second half gave the Cougars a 44-37 lead. A pair of free throws from DJ Alicea gave Kean their first double digit lead of the game with less than 12 minutes on the clock, 52-42. A mini 7-1 run from Ramapo cut the lead to four, capped off with a dunk from
Tim Linton with 9:04 remaining. The Roadrunners cut the score to three on a free throw from
Peter Gorman before an 8-0 run from the Cougars gave them a 65-54 lead with 4:24 on the clock. Gorman would drain a three-pointer to cap off a 7-0 run, 61-65, before Kean added two points from Alicea with 1:38 on the clock. With under a minute to play, the Roadrunners forced a turnover and scored two points from
Tyrell Murchison on a tip-in. Another steal from the Roadrunners on the following inbounds play from Kean resulted in a foul as Murchison was sent to the free throw line. He converted on one of two with 35 seconds remaining. Ramapo fouled at the other end of the court while Kean missed the front end of a one and one. The Roadrunners could not get a shot off as they turned the ball over with under 15 seconds remaining. Andrew Turco sealed the win for the Cougars in the final seconds with a pair of free throws and the final points of the game.
Alicea led the way for Kean with 22 points while Trey Harts added a team high 10 rebounds and five points. Adam Silas poured in 18 points including four three-pointers while Turco tallied 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Kean shot 34% (22-64) from the field, 32% (9-28) from the three-point line and 80% (16-20) from the free throw line. Kean forced 19 Roadrunner turnovers which led to 21 points for the Cougars.
Linton led the Roadrunners with 15 points while adding six rebounds.
Branden Moore added ten points, two rebounds and one steal while
Anthony Corbo tallied nine points and six rebounds.
Peter Gorman led the team with five assists while contributing eight points and five rebounds. Ramapo shot 44% (22-50) from the field, 35% (5-14) from the three-point line and 78% (15-19) from the free throw line. The Roadrunners forced 13 Kean turnovers which led to 14 points for Ramapo.
Ramapo returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 7th when they travel to Rutgers-Camden University for a NJAC game at 3:00 PM.
