By Aidan Mastandrea
Staff Writer
The College’s men's basketball team dropped both of their games this past week against Rowan and Montclair State. Headed into the week, the College sat atop the NJAC rankings while riding a three game winning streak.
The first matchup on Jan. 24 came against highly touted Rowan University. The two teams played a tough battle in Glassboro earlier in the season that ultimately saw the College coming out on top by a score of 82-72. However, this game was a bit different. Rowan got out to a large lead early and was able to hold on.
The Lions never went away throughout the course of the game, coming back from being down 15 points to cut it to five late in the second half. Senior forward Ja’Zere Noel led the Profs with 33 points as Rowan held on, winning 92-83.
The College had a chance to get back in the win column against a very talented Montclair State team a few days later on Jan 27.
The Lions shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, but still entered the locker room at halftime down four to the Red Hawks.
The shooting regressed to the mean in the second half for the College and they were not able to make a run, ultimately losing 88-76. Sophomore guard Nick Koch and junior forward Matthew Okorie both scored 15 points for the Lions in the loss, and junior guard Anthony Milligan scored 16 of his own off the bench.
Despite the two losses, the College is still firmly in the race to win the NJAC. They currently sit in fourth place in the conference, but only one game back of the three teams tied for first place. With five games remaining, the Lions will look to steady the ship before the NJAC tournament.
They will take on William Paterson University on the road on Feb. 3 to look to turn things around.
