Box Score

Ewing, NJ … A tremendous offensive effort by sophomore Bobby Brackett (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) was not enough as The College of New Jersey men's basketball team dropped a 83-80 decision to Western Connecticut State University on Wednesday evening in Packer Hall.

The Lions (1-2) had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but a desperation shot from behind midcourt missed wide as time expired.

Brackett scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor, but the Colonials used 14 second-chance points and 37 off the bench to capture their second win of the season.

TCNJ battled from start to finish, but could not get over the hump for its first win of the 2013-14 season. Juniors Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) finished with 14 points and four steals, while Emmanuel Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) added 10 points and six assists.

Six players finished with double figures for Western Connecticut. Ronnie Underwood (Bridgeport, Ct/Kolbe Cathedral) and junior guard Jengodji Gates (New Haven Ct/Hillhouse) registered a team-high 13 points. Jeremiah Washington (Bridgeport, Ct/Bridgeport Central) and Joseph Groski (New Milford, Ct/Abbott Tech) each finished with 12. Luis Bridtter (Stamford, Ct/Stamford) collected a game-high 11 rebounds.

TCNJ jumped out to a 19-12 lead, hitting eight of its first 12 shots of the contest. A short jumper by Fox and a pair of free throws increased the margin to 27-16 with under nine minutes remaining in the opening half. Three minutes later, Brackett threw down a thunderous, two-handed jam off a slick feed from Matlock to bring the crowd to its feet.

The Colonials mounted a 7-0 run to pull within three with just over four minutes left in the period. Following a Lions' basket, WestConn displayed a little flare of its own. Junior Ike Osafo (Worcester, Ma/North) took a high feed from freshman Geary McLeod (Montville, Ct/Montville) and slammed it through. Osafo finished with 10 points.

A three-point bucket by Gates with 1:06 left on the clock gave the Colonials their first lead of the game. They remained in front 37-36 at the break despite the Lions shooting 56 percent from the floor.

Both teams traded punches in the opening seven minutes of the second half with the difference never getting higher than four points. Underwood drove the lane for a layup to make it a 52-46 game, but the Lions answered back.

Brackett threw down his fourth dunk of the game with 10:58 remaining before Matlock stripped a WestConn guard and went coast to coast to push the Lions in front 56-55.

With under three minutes remaining and holding a 71-66 lead, the Colonials grabbed three straight offensive rebounds before Bobby Bynum converted a layup to give WestConn its largest lead of the contest.

Jason Chalmers responded by sinking a baseline layup as he was fouled and dropped in the free throw to cut the deficit to four with 2:18 to play.

With 37 seconds remaining in regulation, another Brackett dunk made it a 75-72 game. Fox also hit a pair of long three-pointers to keep the game alive, but the Colonials did their job at the free throw line down the stretch to hold off the Lions.

TCNJ returns to their home floor this Saturday when they open New Jersey Athletic Conference play, hosting William Paterson University at 3 p.m.