The New Jersey men's basketball team picked up a victory in
the opening round of the Team Hill Holiday Classic on Friday evening, defeating
Neumann University
by a score of 85-79 in Montclair,
NJ. The victory was the fourth
straight for Head Coach Anthony Calabrese's squad.
Sophomore
guard Dukens Germain led the way for the Knights, netting 14 of his 17 points
in the second session. In addition, freshman Vince Richmond scored 16 points
while snatching six rebounds, and Berkeley
College had five players score
in double figures on the evening.
Senior
guard Reggie Coleman collected a game-high 23 points for Neumann, which fell to
6-4 as its three-game winning streak came to an end.
Neumann
scored the first four points of the game however Berkeley answered with a 14-2 run taking an
eight-point lead on a jumper by William Morton with 12:37 to play in the first
half. A six-point run by Neumann closed the 14-12 however Berkeley withstood
the charge and built the lead back to 23-16 as Javian Clark scored with 8:33
left.
DeShawn
Lowman connected twice from the line bringing Neumann within 30-29 before
Hassan Abdullah connected on back-to-back three-pointers helping Berkeley to a 36-31
advantage with 1:31 to go.
Neumann
countered with the last four points of the half to make the score 36-35 at the
break. Berkeley netted the two quick baskets to boost its lead back to five
points but Neumann scored the next 10 points, the last six by Lowman and took a
45-40 lead with 16:40 remaining.
Berkeley
would regain the lead with just under 15 minutes remaining as Andrew Tomlin drained
a three to make the score 50-47, an advantage Berkeley would not relinquish the
rest of the way.
Lowman
tied the game for Neumann at 65-65 making the second of two free throws but
Germain followed with a three-pointer and Clark added a conventional
three-point play giving Berkeley a 71-65 lead with 5:06 to go. Neumann would
get as close at 75-70 on Mark Blount’s layup with 2:47 left but Germain nailed
a three-pointer on the next possession restoring the lead to eight points.
Tomlin
and Carl O’Neil each had 12 points for Berkeley
while Adbullah added 10 and Clark seven along with four rebounds. Tomlin and
O’Neil grabbed five boards apiece.
Lowman
finished with 19 points and four rebounds for Neumann which got a double-double
of 13 points and 10 rebounds by Blount who also blocked five shots. Kevin Green
had 1 0 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals.
