Reading, PA… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team won their ninth straight game, the third longest active streak in the country, defeating Kenyon College 87-70 in the opening round of the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament Friday afternoon. The Lions improve to 9-1, while the Lords drop to 4-6.
 
The Lords jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead thanks to hot shooting behind the arc as Ryan O'Neil and Phillip Crampton each drained their first shot from deep. Kenyon would go 5-for-5 from long range to start the game, building a 20-13 advantage.
 
The Lions quickly responded with an 8-2 run of their own as a pair of threes from Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) and Mike Walley (Yardley, PA/Notre Dame) bracketed a Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) lay-up. Minutes later a lay-up from Murdock, Jr. gave TCNJ its first lead at 27-25. Murdock, Jr. finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
 
The Lions led 36-35 at the half.
 
TCNJ came out firing to open the second half, blowing open the game by scoring 14 unanswered points. Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) scored seven points in the run. Walko scored 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
 
The Lords would find the answer immediately after dropping 12 straight in response getting five points from both Ben Stern and Will Sigl. Sigl finished with 14 points off the bench.
 
The Lions slowly built the lead to 75-66, then closed out the game on a 12-4 run, getting five of Carpenter's game-high 25 points during that stretch. Carpenter also finished with a game-high seven rebounds.
 
TCNJ got eight steals, led by Murdock, Jr. with four, to just one for Kenyon. The Lions held a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The Lions will face off against the winner of Penn State Harrisburg and Albright College in the championship game tomorrow at 4:00 PM.