Ewing, NJ... In an exciting 40 minutes, The College of New Jersey men's basketball team (10-3, 5-1 NJAC) defeated #19 Ramapo College (10-4, 6-1 NJAC) by a final score of 66-64. Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) hit a buzzer beater at the end of regulation to give the Lions the thrilling victory, and send the Packer Hall crowd into a frenzy. 

In the first half, the Lions took advantage of an 11-1 run to take a 15-7 lead with 11 minutes remaining, as Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) hit a lay up to give the Lions the eight point lead. Neither teams were able to generate much offense in the first half, as both sides played physical defense and limited the oppositions chances. Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the put back to give the Lions a 34-24 with 35 seconds left in the first half. Bermudez was tough on the glass in the opening period, as he grabbed six rebounds, three on the offensive end. 

The Roadrunners had the momentum coming out of halftime, as they went on a quick 7-0 run to pull within 34-31 with over 17 minutes remaining. With just under 11 minutes to play the Lions were up 41-40, and Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) knocked down a three pointer, and two possessions later Joe Montano (Eatontown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) hit another triple to put the Lions up 47-40. The Roadrunners refused to let the Lions pull away, as the Lions were not able to grab a double digit lead the second half. Bermudez continued to be a force on the glass, as he converted two free throws after controlling an offensive rebound to put the Lions up 51-46 with just over six minutes to play. It seemed as if the Roadrunners had an answer for every bucket the Lions hit, as the two teams traded buckets for six possessions in a row. The Roadrunners were finally able to grab the lead as they hit a lay up with 2:13 remaining to go ahead 60-59. Murdock Jr. was fouled on a three pointer on the next possession, and hit two out of three free throws to put the Lions back on top 61-60. Patrick Peterson hit a lay up on the next possession for the Roadrunners to continue the seesaw battle and give Ramapo the 62-61 advantage. On the other end, Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) hit a clutch three pointer with 50 seconds left to put the Lions on top 64-62. Once again the Roadrunners has the answer, as Josh Ford scored from in close to tie the game up. With seven seconds left, TCNJ called a timeout to draw up one final play. Murdock Jr. dished it to Walko outside the three point line. Walko made a move to get by the defender and into the paint, and got the runner to go to beat the buzzer and lift the Lions to victory. 

Murdock Jr. led the Lions with 19 points, and shot 8-9 from the free throw line, while backcourt mate Carpenter scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor. Jensen scored seven points and grabbed a team high 11 rebounds, while Bermudez tallied eight points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots on the defensive end. Walko only scored five points, however scored the two that mattered most, and added five rebounds and four assists. 

Peterson led the Roadrunners with 20 points on 9-17 shooting from the floor.

Statistically the two teams were very evenly matched, as both teams finished with 42 rebounds, and 11 turnovers. The Roadrunners held a slight edge in shooting percentage, as they shot 39.1% compared to the Lions 35%. 

TCNJ snapped Ramapo's 11 game winning streak against conference opponents, and were also the last NJAC team to defeat Ramapo prior to today's thriller.  

With the win the Lions improve to 10-3 and 5-1 in the NJAC, and currently sit in third place in the conference standings. They will return to action with another NJAC battle against Rutgers University-Newark on January 10th in Packer Hall at 8 pm.