By Aidan Mastandrea
Staff Writer
The College’s men’s basketball team squared off against Rutgers-Camden in Packer Hall, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, looking to end a three game losing streak. The Lions dominated from the jump, and led wire-to-wire as they were able to come out with a much needed win, 72-47. The Lions are 7-8 overall, with a 4-8 record in the NJAC conference.
The College started the game strong, and a three-pointer by freshman forward Matthew Okorie at the 15 minute mark in the first half extended the Lions’ lead to 21-4, forcing Rutgers-Camden coach Stuart Pradia to call a timeout.
The Scarlet Raptors responded out of the timeout, and a three-pointer by Rutgers-Camden’s guard Andrew Walker with seven minutes remaining in the half cut the Lions’ lead to 24-20. From that point on in the half, it was all the College. A bucket by senior captain Danny Bodine capped off a 16-6 run by the Lions to end the half, 40-26.
Bodine led all scorers with 20 points, while both other captains, juniors Anthony Dicarro and Jason Larranaga, were in double digits with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Rutgers-Camden tried to make a push to start the second half, but could not cut the deficit. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Jacob Hopping extended the College’s lead to 15 with 12:45 remaining in the half to keep the Scarlet Raptors out of reach.
This win was not only big for the standings in the NJAC conference, but for Head Coach Matthew Goldsmith.
The victory marked his 100th win as the head coach of the College’s men’s basketball program. Goldsmith’s career at the College since 2015 has been successful, including winning a NJAC championship title in 2019.
The Lions look to improve their overall record with upcoming games against Stockton University and Kean University.
