Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team (16-5, 11-3 NJAC) was defeated by Rowan University (10-11, 6-8 NJAC) on Wednesday night by a final tally of 93-84.

In the first half, the Profs jumped out to a 28-14 lead, when Joe Montano (Eatontown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) knocked down a three pointer to cut the deficit to 11. The Profs remained hot, and pushed their lead to as many as 17, yet the Lions climbed back in it with a 19-9 stretch to end the half. Montano converted from downtown again, and on the ensuing possession Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) found Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) who hit the three ball to cut the Prof lead to 40-28. With just under a minute to play, Murdock Jr. found Tommy Egan (Shamnog, NJ/Seneca) in the corner, and Egan hit to make it 46-39 Profs.

The Lions chipped away at the lead in the second stanza, and did not allow the Profs to run away with it. With just over 14 minutes to play, Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) converted an and-one to cut the lead to 58-50. Walko was active in the second half, as he scored eight consecutive Lions points in that stretch. Murdock Jr. knocked down two three pointers in a row, and the latter cut the lead to five. With just over eight minutes to play, Montano sent a great pass to Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) down low, and Carpenter was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 71-68. Walko converted on another strong take to the hole with just over six minutes to play to make it 76-70. Jordan Glover (Trenton, NJ/Lawrence) knocked down a triple off a feed from Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) to cut it to 76-73, and on the ensuing possession Carpenter sank a jumper to cut the lead to one. Murdock Jr. converted on an and one with 1:40 remaining to make it 86-84, however the Profs answered with back to back buckets to push their lead to six, and held onto the win.

Murdock. Jr scored 21 points on an efficient 9-14 shooting and added five assists. Walko tallied 14 points and seven rebounds, while Carpenter finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Jensen added 11 points and six rebounds, while Montano tallied eight points. 

This marks the first loss at home for the 2017-18 season. They will return to the court on Saturday, February 3rd for another conference match-up against Ramapo College at 3pm.