Wayne, NJ: The Ramapo College men's basketball team defeated William Paterson University tonight in the final NJAC regular season game of the season as they clinched the #2 seed in the upcoming NJAC Tournament. The Roadrunners win their fifth straight game and move to 19-6 overall and 13-5 in the league. The Pioneers wrap up the season at 6-19 overall and 2-16 in the league.
Ramapo earns their 19th appearance in the NJAC Tournament under head coach
Chuck McBreen. The Roadrunners earn bye into the semifinals which will be played at the Bradley Center on Tuesday, Feb. 25th at 7:00 PM. Tickets are electronic this year for all NJAC tournament games - $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, children, and students with ID. When ticket sales open for the semifinal game, it will be posted on our social media @RCNJAthletics and @NJACSports along with links on our website and njacsports.com.
The Roadrunners began to pull away late in the first half as they rattled off a 16-4 run to take a 43-33 lead into halftime. In the final 6:12 of the half, Ramapo finished 8-12 from the field as Enoch Hutchison posted a team high six points,
Peter Gorman and
Shane Rooney each collected four and
Anthony Corbo added two. Hutchison started the run with a basket to tie the game with 6:12 on the clock before he scored a bucket to put Ramapo up, 31-29. Gorman and Corbo added back-to-back baskets before Rooney scored four points of his own for a 39-29 lead. WPU scored their two points from the free throw line and Hutchison and Gorman closed out the half with a jumper.
WPU started the second on an 8-0 run before Gorman snapped it with a layup and
Tim Linton added a pair of free throws. The two teams traded baskets before an and-one play from Gorman put Ramapo back up ten with 15:27 remaining. Corbo added a three-pointer and a jumper to give the Roadrunners a 14-point lead with 10:20 on the clock, 69-55. Linton sank a free throw to start a 13-3 run to end the game where Gorman added six points, Linton four and Bladen three for the 84-64 road NJAC victory.
Coming off a career best 39 points on Saturday, Gorman scored 26 tonight as he finished 10-21 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line while he posted six assists, five rebounds, three steals and one block. Linton posted 15 points off the bench as he finished 4-6 from the field and 7-10 from the free throw line. Corbo posted 11 points and nine rebounds with three blocks and two assists while Bladen connected on three made three-pointers and tallied two steals. Rooney pulled down eight rebounds while adding six points. The team shot 50% (31-61) from the field, 33% (4-12) from the free throw line and 75% (18-24) from the free throw line. The Roadrunners scored 46 points in the paint, 27 points off the bench and 14 points off Pioneer turnovers.
Three Pioneers scored in double figures as they were led by Andre Wells with 22 points. Neftali Valentin added 14 points while Tim Gjonballa contributed with 12. Wells and Gjonballa posted a team high seven rebounds each. WPU shot 35% (23-65) from the field, 22% (4-18) from the three-point line and 82% (14-17) from the free throw line.
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