By Kevin Hornibrook
News Editor
The men’s basketball team took on the Ramapo Roadrunners on Wednesday, losing to the conference opponent, 77-66. The Lions put together a balanced game, but were unable to take the lead, giving way to a second-half Ramapo run to hand the College a third consecutive loss.
It was the Roadrunner’s interior consistency that kept them ahead, going 20 of 36 on two-point attempts and converting 19 of their 24 free throws. Despite a strong defensive effort and active hands from the Lions, too many possessions ended with last-second shooting fouls for them to gather any defensive momentum.
The rebounding battle went the College’s way, 37 to Ramapo’s 30, leading to twice as many second chance points as their opponent. These opportunities kept the game close throughout the first half, and eventually the score was tied at 22-22 after a great offensive possession gave junior Jason Larranaga an open three-point look, which he did not hesitate to convert.
The home-court energy was short lived, however, as the Roadrunners came out of the timeout, forced a turnover and made two unanswered three-pointers to take a six point lead.
The Lions tried to piece together any sort of run before the intermission after a close range jumper from sophomore Jacob Hopping cut the lead to four. Freshman Matthew Okorie subbed in for the last four seconds and swatted the Roadrunners’ quick layup attempt to close out the half and get some noise from the crowd — despite trailing 34-30.
After the break, the visitors remained firmly in control for the rest of the game.
Ramapo made the first basket of the second half, and from there the College was never able to bring the lead down to five. A promising run turned a 63-48 score into 68-61 in the final minutes, but Ramapo kept hitting late game free throws that kept the Lions out of striking distance.
Junior Jim Clemente led the Lions with 13 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting, along with five rebounds and four assists. Senior Daniel Bodine earned another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Hopping and junior Naysean Burch scored in double figures as well, earning 12 and 11 points respectively, but the balanced performance was no match for a team shooting 50.2% from the field.
The Lions were 8-12 after this game before heading to William Paterson University on Saturday, where they won, 72-65. Men’s basketball comes back home for senior night on Wednesday, where they will face Rutgers-Newark.
