Men’s basketball loses to Ramapo in season ending game

The season has come to an end for the Rowan men’s basketball. The Profs fell to Ramapo College this past Saturday in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference  playoffs, 62-60.

“I really thought we were going to take this one but unfortunately we lost to this team the same way about a month ago,” said senior Derek Piccini, in reference to the 95-87 overtime loss back on Jan. 13. “We had about a five-seven point lead and they just came back.

“We should have done things down the stretch that we did the whole game like boxing out, getting rebounds, and being at the right spot at the right time. They took advantage and got ahead.”

Rowan jumped out to an early 14-3 run, but they allowed Ramapo to get back into the game. The Roadrunners finished the first half on a 16-2 run that gave them a 25-21 lead going into the locker rooms.

“If we would have kept up the intensity we started the game with we would’ve been alright,” said sophomore guard Gary Foster, who had 11 of his 13 points in the second half. “After a while, we got too comfortable and then when it got close, we brought the little antennas back up and we realized we had to play harder again.”

The little things were what killed Rowan the most.

They got the ball with 37 seconds left in the first half and held the ball to try and get the last shot. With time running down, freshman A.J. Greenwald drove to the basket and attempted a lay-up but missed, appearing to have been fouled on the play.

The shot-clock buzzer sounded and junior Tim Matchett grabbed the rebound and held the ball, thinking that buzzer was the game clock. Instead, there was enough time to put in a rebound shot, which he did not do.

“It was the little things that got us,” said head coach Joe Cassidy. “If we made one more little play, one less turnover, one less foul, or one more rebound we win the game.”

Foster made two foul shots to make it 60-57 Rowan with 55 seconds remaining. Ramapo answered with a three-point play to tie the game.

Rowan got the ball with 44 seconds left and needed to score. Sophomore Steve Secula, who led the team with 14 points and seven rebounds, drove to the lane. He appeared to be fouled on the way up. Instead, the officials called an offensive charge on Secula, giving Ramapo the ball with 26 seconds left.

Ramapo wasted some clock and drove the lane with less than 10 seconds left. After missing the initial lay-up, the ball was tipped in by a Ramapo player with 1.7 seconds left on the clock to give Ramapo the 62-60 edge. Freshman Kendall White’s desperation shot from half-court clanked off the side of the rim.

For the seniors, it was the last game they would ever play in a Profs uniform.

“We had games where they slipped away and the game slipped away itself and we had a couple losses that were bad losses,” Piccini said. “Overall though I think it was a good season. It was a better season than the one we had last year but it wasn’t good enough for me.”

Rowan is in good shape going into the offseason. Piccini, Tyson Hartnett and Allen Pritchett are the only seniors graduating, leaving a good nucleus of players for next year.

“Hopefully, next year is better for those guys,” Hartnett said. “We have a lot of good young guys here like Kendall, Laud (Anderson), and everybody. Next year this team could be really good and I wish them good luck.”

Key players like junior Sean Hughes, Foster and Greenwald will return the following season to hopefully pick up where the seniors left off.

“I think we can be good,” Secula said. “If we all get better in the offseason and focus for next year, we can be good.”