Men's Basketball

Cougar Rally Falls Short at Ramapo, 71-69

MAHWAH, N.J. (02/02/08) - Senior guard Lamar Wright (Galloway, N.J.) scored a game-high 24 points, however the Kean University men's basketball fell short at Ramapo College, 71-69, in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon.

Rookie Keith Williams (Jersey City, N.J.) scored all 14 of his points in the second-half for the Cougars (6-14, 1-8 NJAC), while Ramapo (10-9, 4-4 NJAC) was led by Assad Shakkir (Newark, N.J.) and junior Tim Wesley (Jersey City, N.J.) with 15 points apiece.

The Cougars, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, tied the game at 69-69 on a three-pointer by Wright (pictured right) with just six seconds remaining.  A Cougar foul however led to a pair of free throws by Ramapo's Desmond Sanders (Newark, N.J.), and Wright's three-pointer at the buzzer fell short, as three of the Cougars' last six losses have been by three points or less.

After Ramapo opened the game scoring the first five points of the contest, the Cougars responded with a 9-0 run to take a 9-5 lead less than four minutes into the game.  Kean led by as many as six points (18-12) on three free throws from sophomore Levar Tilly (Jersey City, N.J.), before five straight points from Ramapo pulled the score to within one point (18-17). 

Ramapo regained the lead on a jumper by Wesley for a 31-30 lead with 3:26 left in the opening half before the Roadrunners closed the half with an 8-2 run to take a 39-32 lead at halftime.

Wright tallied 15 points for the Cougars in the opening half, as the Cougars knocked down nearly half of their shots (10-of-21).  Shakkir paced the Roadrunners with 10 points. 

In the second half, Ramapo used a 10-0 run midway through the half to extend the lead to 10 points (55-45) with 9:42 left in the game.  Kean tied the game back up less than three minutes later and would force a tie on four more separate occasions, but the Cougars were never able to take the lead in the final minutes of the game. 

For Kean, Wright added a team-high six rebounds, while freshman Akinwande Oshodi (Florence, N.J.) scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Rookie Ahmad Hassan (Edgewater, N.J.) scored 13 points for Ramapo, and Jamall Jenkins (New Brunswick, N.J.) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

Kean returns to action on Wednesday, February 6, when the Cougars host Rutgers-Camden in a key NJAC South Division match-up.  Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.