Ewing, NJ: The College of New Jersey men's basketball team came away with a 73-67 NJAC win over Ramapo College. The Lions improve to 15-5 overall and 8-5 in the league while the Roadrunners move to 14-6 overall and 8-5 in the NJAC.
Ramapo took a 31-29 lead into halftime when
Justin Bladen scored off a TCNJ turnover to tie it at 29 while
Shane Rooney forced a second Lion turnover allowing
Peter Gorman to score a driving layup as time expired for the two-point lead. In the second half, Ramapo built a quick seven-point lead as Rooney converted on an and-one play and a layup with 19:10 on the clock, 36-29. TCNJ would go on a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 46-38 lead. During the run the Lions sank three three-pointers as Nick Koch collected 11 points. Another 12-7 run from TCNJ would give them a 58-45 lead with less than eight minutes left to play.
Tyrell Murchison sparked an 11-4 run for the Roadrunners with a pull up jumper while it was capped off with a pair of free throws from Gorman, 56-62, with 4:23 remaining. Each team added 11 points to their side of the scoreboard in the final 4:19 of the game as TCNJ held on to the key NJAC victory.
Gorman led the way for Ramapo with 26 points, finishing with three made three-pointers along with six rebounds and one assist.
Jordan Myers added 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals while Bladen posted nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The team shot 41% (26-62) from the field, 22% (4-18) from the three-point line and 68% (11-16) from the free throw line. Ramapo scored 34 points in the paint and 11 second chance points along with 15 points off of TCNJ turnovers.
The Lions collected 12 three-pointers in the game including four each from Koch and Matthew Okorie. Koch led the way for TCNJ with 21 points while Okorie added 20. David Alexandre added 12 points while Matthew Solomon posted a team high 15 rebounds and ten points. The Lions shot 44% (26-58) from the field, 41% (12-29) from the three-point line and 64% (9-14) from the free throw line.
Ramapo will host Montclair State University on Wednesday, Feb. 5th in NJAC action at 7:30pm.
