Senior Insert

Ewing, NJ... Eric Murdock, Jr. has played plenty of terrific games for the Lions throughout his career, however put forth what perhaps may be his best performance on senior day. The Lions defeated Montclair State University 94-78, and with the win the Lions push their record to 18-6 and 13-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while the Red Hawks fall to 16-8 and 10-7 in the NJAC. Murdock Jr. scored a career high 39 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out six assists, and registered four steals.

In the first half, the Red Hawks got an early 14-2 lead in the first four minutes. The Lions got right back into it by way of a 15-3 run, capped off by back to back three pointers from Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) and Murdock Jr. The Red Hawks were able to bump their lead to 12 points with four and a half minutes left in the opening period, yet the Lions hung in there. Murdock Jr. knocked down six consecutive free throws, and the Red Hawks took a 36-29 lead into the locker room.

 A three pointer from Myles Mitchell-White pushed the Red Hawk's lead to 51-42 with just under 18 minutes remaining, yet the Lions caught fire as they took a commanding 16 point lead with a 37-12 stretch from the 17:55 mark to the 5:43 mark. They were locked in from behind the arc in the second half, and knocked down ten three pointers in that run. Jordan Glover (Trenton NJ, Lawrence) made three, Murdock Jr. sank four, while Joe Montano (Eatontown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) and Jensen each hit one. Montano's three pointer with 5:43 remaining gave the Lions a 79-63 lead. Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) put an exclamation point on the win with a fast break dunk with under a minute to play.

Murdock Jr. achieved a few milestones on Saturday, as he now has 1,526 points, 505 rebounds, and 500 assists on his career. He is now fourth all time on the Lions scoring list, as he passed Kevin Ryan's mark of 1,514 today. He scored 39 on an efficient 11-20 shooting, including 5-7 from beyond the arc. Glover put up 16 points, on 5-9 shooting from the field and 4-7 from three point range and added seven rebounds. Walko tallied 16 points including a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. 

The Lions shot an efficient 27-56 (48.2%) from the field including 16-33 (48.6%) from three point territory, while they held the Red Hawks to 28-66 (42.4%) from the floor and 7-21 (33.3%) from three point land. The Lions defense forced 15 turnovers from the red hawks, which turned into 18 points on the offensive end.

Before the game, the Lions honored their senior class of Murdock Jr., Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood), Lance Taylor (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), and student assistant coach Darrien Pinkman. 

With the victory, the Lions remain in contention for the first round bye in the NJAC playoffs. They will wrap up the regular season when they travel to Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, February 14th for an 8pm tip.