Box score

Glassboro, NJ… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team was defeated by Rowan University 73-58 in a make-up game on Monday night.

The Lions (3-19, 0-11 NJAC) fought to tie the game 52-52 with five minutes remaining, but the Profs (10-11, 4-6 NJAC) outscored TCNJ 21-6 down the stretch to keep their post-season hopes alive in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

Sophomore Donovan Smalls (Union, NJ/Union) led the Lions in scoring for the third straight game and 12th time this season tallying 17 points. Junior Kyle Rawson (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills) netted 13 points and senior Steve Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

TCNJ trailed 31-27 at the half. The Lions held a three-point lead, but missed nine straight shots as the Profs reeled off 10 unanswered points to surge ahead. After taking the lead at the 12:28 mark, Rowan did not trail the remainder of the game.

The Profs stretched the lead to eight early in the second half, but the Lions battled back to tie the score 46-46 at the 9:42 mark when Siracusa found the bottom of the net with a jump shot.

The next five minutes were a game of cat-and-mouse with the Profs maintaining the lead until Dan Bucher (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) tied the game up again 52-52 with five minutes to play. Rowan responded with seven straight points, but Smalls drilled a 3-point shot to keep the Lions hopes alive. But it would be the final basket of the night as the Profs scored 14 of the game's final 17 points.

The guard play of junior Roger Loatman (Bridgeton, NJ/Bridgeton) and senior Sean Hughes (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro) carried the Profs to their 10th win. Loatman scored a game-high 22 points while Hughes added 20 points.

Bucher finished with six points while sophomore William Friedrich (Berlin, NJ/East Stroudsburg South) hit both of his field goal attempts to chip in with four points.

TCNJ squares off against Richard Stockton College at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 9.