Box Score


Mahwah, NJ … Despite a solid first half, The College of New Jersey men's basketball team suffered an 80-59 loss at the hands of Ramapo College in New Jersey Athletic Conference play.
 
The Lions (6-10, 1-5 NJAC) held a nine-point halftime lead, but the Roadrunners (12-4, 3-2 NJAC) caught fire in the second half to notch their sixth win in their last seven contests.
 
TCNJ was led by sophomore Matthew Rista (Point Pleasant, NJ/St. Anthony's) who finished with 11 points and two assists. Senior Kyle Rawson (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills) produced a solid effort with 10 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Jason Chalmers (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) added six points and four rebounds.
 
Garret Thiel and Stephon Treadwell paced the Roadrunners with 19 points apiece. Jermain Emanuel and Will Sanborn also reached double figures in the win.
 
TCNJ was badly out-rebounded in the second half by Ramapo by a margin of 25-6. The Roadrunners, who were held to just 22 shots in the first half, hit 19-of-30 shot following the intermission and used a 22-4 midway through the period to seal their 12^th win of the season.
 
Trailing 16-14 early in the first half, the Lions rattled off ten unanswered points to take command of the game. Rista buried a three before senior Dan Bucher (New Providence, NJ/New Providence), junior Brandon Johnson (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West), and Chalmers tallied points. Rista hit another jumper with 9:53 in the half to stake TCNJ with a 24-16 lead.
 
The Roadrunners, who top the conference in points per game with 80.1, drew within four points on a pair of free throws from Thiel. But the Lions finished the half strong. They didn't allow a field goal over the final 3:54 and Albert Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) punctuated a late spurt with a three-point basket to give TCNJ a 39-30 advantage at the break.
 
The Lions did everything well in the first half. Two notable statistics were limiting Ramapo to just 22 field goal attempts and turning the ball over just twice.
 
The second half was a different story. TCNJ maintained its lead and went ahead 51-46 at the 12:41 mark on a jumper by sophomore Dan Balevski (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor South). The Roadrunners took flight from there, however, scoring 13 straight points in a span of less than five minutes. The Lions simply couldn't keep up with the torrid shooting pace by the host.
 
Balevski finished with eight points and junior Donovan Smalls (Union, NJ/Union) added seven points.
The Lions return home for a conference battle with Rutgers University-Camden on Wednesday, January 18 at 8 p.m. The game is crucial as only one game separates TCNJ from second-place Rowan and third-place Kean University in the South Division standings.