Box Score

Ewing, NJ –The College of New Jersey men's basketball team hosted No. 13 ranked Richard Stockton College on Wednesday night in the Lions' home NJAC opener in Packer Hall. The Lions would come away with the 79-73 upset win as they knocked off the Ospreys. TCNJ's junior guard Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) added a career-high 36 points and nine snap their four-game losing streak and halt the Ospreys' nine-game win streak. With the win, the Lions are now 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the NJAC, while RSC drops to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the league.

TCNJ would break out to an early lead in the first half before the Ospreys would tie the action at 27-27 with 6:58 left in the first half. RSC would collect their first lead of the game at 2:39 (33-31) as junior forward Kevin Brown (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) hit a jumper. The Ospreys took a 37-33 lead when sophomore guard Michael Farrow (Whitesboro, NJ/Middle Township) hit a layup but missed the free throw on the three-point play. TCNJ would cut the lead back to two at the break as junior guard Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) added a jumper in the waning seconds of the half.

At the break, TCNJ's Frank would lead all players with 16 points as he hit 6-10 from the floor, including a blistering 4-5 from three-point range. RSC's Brown and junior guard Santini Lancioni (Runnemede, NJ/Paul VI) each had 10 points in the first half and were both 2-2 from three-point range.

RSC would open the second half on a 6-0 run and take a 43-35 lead with 17:22 left to play. Frank would ignite the Lions over the next few minutes hitting a pair of three-pointers and a jumper to give the Lions a 51-49 lead with 12:17 as he upped his point total to 26 points surpassing his career best of 24 with more than a 12 minutes left to play.

The Lions' senior guard Eric Blackmon-Hayes (Plainfield, NJ/Westfield) would add back to back jumpers in the paint and help the Lions to a 55-49 lead with 11:21 left to play. He would hit two free throws and help the Lions to a 71-61 lead with 5:29 left.

RSC would not go away and would pull within two points down, 75-73 as Brown would collect an offensive rebound and a put-back before the Ospreys called time with 1:04 left in regulation. The Lions would collect a pair of free throws from Frank with 22.4 left to play and a 77-73 lead.

The Ospreys would miss back to back three-point attempts by Jerome Hubbard and Molinelli would collect the defensive rebound and be fouled sending him to the line where he hit two shots with 7.2 left to play giving the Lions a 79-73 lead.

By game's end, Frank would hit 13-of-23 shots from the floor with a 6-9 effort from three-point range while adding a perfect 4-4 effort from the line. TCNJ would shoot 92.3% from the line as they hit 12-13 from the line, while holding a 39-36 edge on the boards.

RSC's Lancioni would finish with 18 points, while junior forward Omar Smith (Newark, NJ/Central) added 16 points and Brown netted 15 points.

TCNJ's junior guard William Jett (Browns Mills, NJ/Pemberton) added 12 points to help the Lions to the win.

TCNJ returns to action on January 10 when they host New Jersey City University at 3:00 p.m. in an NJAC match-up, while Richard Stockton College hosts William Paterson University the same day in a 4:00 p.m. league contest.