Pomona, NJ: Richard Stockton (14-5, 4-3 NJAC) dropped a hard-fought NJAC contest to Ramapo (14-4, 5-2 NJAC) 85-84 on Saturday afternoon.
For Ramapo it was their fifth win in the last six games. Stockton’s Santini Lancioni (Runnemede/Paul VI) had a layup in traffic drop off the rim as time expired that would have won it for the Ospreys.
The two leading scorers in the NJAC,
LaQuan Peterkin (Paterson/John F. Kennedy) and
Andre Kenny (Jersey City/Dickinson) led the Roadrunners with 29 and 24 points respectively. Peterkin also grabbed eight rebounds.
Omar Smith (Newark/Central) led Stockton with 22 points and Lancioni had 21. Michael Farrow (Whitesboro/Middle Township) chipped in with 18 markers while teammate DiAndre Brown (Sicklerville/Camden County Tech) pulled down eight boards for the Ospreys.
Stockton led 38-32 after the first half but Ramapo turned up the pace in the second half shooting a blistering 58.1% from the field. Ramapo took its first lead since the opening two minutes at 53-52 on a basket by Peterkin at the 12:50 mark and led by as much as six down the stretch.
Stockton gamely fought back to regain the lead briefly at 81-80 on a layup by Farrow with 1:23 remaining. Ramapo answered with a 5-1 spurt and went ahead 85-82 after a free throw by Kenny with 22 seconds left. Two Lancioni free throws and a Ramapo turnover gave Stockton the last chance for the win, but Lancioni’s try in the final seconds was off the mark and Ramapo won 85-84.
Stockton will travel to the College of New Jersey on Wednesday evening at 8 pm while Ramapo will travel to Newark and face Rutgers-Newark for an 8 pm NJAC matchup.