Late surge can’t put Profs on top

Rowan men’s basketball knew they had to step up in the second half of their game Monday night or else the Profs would get rolled over by Alvernia University. After trailing at half time by six, Rowan battled all the way back to tie the game, but couldn’t complete the comeback, as they lost 69-65.

“We were taking terrible shots in the first half,” said senior guard Allen Pritchett, who had 10 points coming off the bench. “In the second, we came out and took better shots and made sure we ran our stuff to climb back into the game but we didn’t have enough to pull it out in the end.”

The game started out slow for both teams. Rowan then jumped out to a 21-14 lead before the pace picked up. Rowan started to make mistakes and Alvernia capitalized. One of the biggest things hurting Rowan all game were the Crusaders’ abilities to draw fouls from the defense and capitalize on the and-one opportunities.

“We were our biggest problem,” Pritchett said. “We didn’t capitalize on moments where we should have capitalized on. It’s back to the drawing board after this.”

Rowan trailed by as many as 11 points with over 10 minutes to play. Pritchett played most of the second half and was the spark to Rowan’s comeback when he sank a three-pointer with 10:38 left in the game.

Senior forward Tyson Hartnett led the second burst of energy with a three-pointer with 4:35 left to make it a two-point game. He finished the night with 19 points and a career best 12 rebounds. After another and-one opportunity made by Alvernia, Rowan made one more surge.

Rowan left it all on the floor, including freshman guard Kendall White. He chased down a ball destined to go out of play and was able to keep it in. As he fell to the ground, he hit his face on the floor and left the game with a bloody nose. Before the whistle blew, the ball found its way down court to bring Rowan back within two with 2:30 remaining.

Senior forward Derek Piccini’s jumper tied the game at 63, the first time Rowan hadn’t trailed since late in the first half. Alvernia then answered with four more points to give them the 67-63 lead. With 21 seconds left, Hartnett made it a two-point game, but that was the last points the Profs could muster. Alvernia was able to make it 69-65 and were able to hold Rowan scoreless for the last 15 seconds.

Rowan started its first New Jersey Athletic Conference game on Wednesday at the College of New Jersey. They will then host their first NJAC game the following Wednesday versus Kean University.