Ewing, NJ … A blistering second half by The College of New Jersey men's basketball team lifted the Lions to an 87-65 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Monday night in Packer Hall.
 
The Lions (9-4) outscored the Devils (4-9) 55-30 after the intermission, receiving exceptional efforts from senior Bobby Brackett (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) and junior Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater). Brackett was nearly perfect shooting the basketball (11-of-13 from the field), finishing with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Murdock, Jr. tallied 15 points and six assists, and engineered a potent TCNJ offense in the second half.
 
Trailing 35-32 at the break, the Lions established a quickened pace of play in the second half. They took command with a 16-2 run midway through the period. Down 46-44, Murdock, Jr. took matters into his hands, penetrating the lane to score eight of the first nine TCNJ points to ignite the rally. Brackett delivered a one-handed jam before junior Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) converted an inbounds out of the air from sophomore Joe Montano (Eatontown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic). Brackett followed with another physical move underneath to bank in a layup.
 
After FDU senior Donte Ali delivered a basket, sophomore Kevin Bloodgood (Oceanport, NJ/Shore Regional) connected from behind the arc and the Lions suddenly held 60-48 lead with nine minutes to play.
 
The Devils were able to trim their deficit to seven points when Ali dropped in another layup with 7:06 remaining. But Brackett grabbed an offensive rebound out of the air and slammed it home to spark another 10-4 run.
 
Lions' senior Corey Stanford (Pittsburgh, PA/Penn Tafford) netted 13 points and grabbed four boards in the win. Classmate Eric Klacik (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) chipped in with eight points and Montano and sophomore Jordan Glover (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) added six points each.
 
The Devils were led by Ali with 14 points and nine rebounds. Anthony Mitchell was three-for-four on three-point attempts and finished with 13 points.

The Lions are back in action on Wednesday night when they visit Rutgers-Newark for an 8 p.m. match-up. TCNJ returns to Packer Hall on Saturday at 3 p.m. for an NJAC showdown with Montclair State University.