Ewing, NJ: The College of New Jersey men's basketball team defeated Ramapo College in NJAC action this afternoon at Packer Hall, 76-51. The Lions, who received votes in the recent D3hoops.com Top 25, move to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the NJAC while the Roadrunners now stand at 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Ramapo took their biggest lead in the first half with 13:11 on the clock as
Elijah Barlow sank a pull up jumper to push their lead, 11-4. The Lions pulled away in the final minutes of the first half and opened the second half on a 14-2 run. They extended the lead in the first five minutes to push the score 50-29. During the run TCNJ's Matthew Solomon tallied six points while Nick Koch added five and David Alexandre added three. A three-pointer with 11:33 remaining from Mason Mangione gave the Lion's their biggest lead of the game, 62-32. TCNJ held a double digit lead the remainder of the game to come away with the NJAC victory.
TCNJ only turned the ball over five times during the game while they connected on 10 three-pointers. Koch, Alexandre and Mangione each tallied three apiece. The Lions were led by Koch who posted 19 points with seven assists, five rebounds and one steal. Khalid Bakare added 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals while Alexandre and Solomon each posted 11 points. The team shot 39% (29-74) from the field, 28% (12-41) from the three-point line and 85% (6-7) from the free throw line. TCNJ posted 34 points in the paint and 16 points off Ramapo turnovers in the game.
For the Roadrunners, Barlow led the way with 15 points while
Branden Moore collected 11 points while adding two rebounds, one steal and one assist.
Tyrell Murchison added nine points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals. Ramapo shot 39% (20-51) from the field, 18% (2-11) from the three-point line and 90% (9-10) from the free throw line in the game. The team recorded 16 points in the paint.
Ramapo returns to action when they travel to Nashville, TN for the Music City Classic; on December 19th they will take on Augsburg University at 2:00 PM and on December 20th they will take on Centre College at 6:00 PM.
