Wright Rallies Cougars Past Ramapo, 97-87

UNION, N.J. (12/2/06)-Junior Lamar Wright (Galloway, N.J.) scored a career high 32 points, including 20 in the final six minutes of action as Kean University came from behind to defeat previously unbeaten Ramapo College, 97-87, Saturday afternoon at Harwood Arena.

After shooting 35.5% in the first half, the Cougars (4-0, 1-0 NJAC) revived themselves and almost doubled their production by shooting 61.8% in the final 20 minutes. Senior Bryan Keller (Piscataway, N.J.) recorded 15 points, four assists and four steals in the first NJAC win of the season for Kean. Senior Antoine Pryor (Elizabeth, N.J.) had a team-high 21 points in the loss for the Roadrunners (5-1, 1-1 NJAC).

Both teams battled in the first 10 minutes of action with Ramapo holding the lead from the start, but by no more than seven points. The Roadrunners then used a 10-2 run over a minute and a half to widen the gap to 14 points. Junior Omar Alston (Carteret, N.J.) initiated the run with a jumper at 9:07 and sophomore Brian Dench (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.) finished it with two free throws at 7:45 to put Ramapo ahead, 34-20.

Ramapo headed into the locker room at the half with a 54-41 advantage. Sophomore Tim Wesley (Jersey City, N.J.) led the Roadrunners at the break with 13 points while Pryor finished the half with 10 points and five assists. Keller registered 10 points for the Cougars while senior Bryan Miller (Trenton, N.J.) had eight.

The momentum started to shift towards Kean with just over 16 minutes left to play as Alston picked up two quick fouls, including a technical, to send him out of the game for good. The Cougars slowly chipped away and finally broke through with just over six minutes in the game. Trailing by seven, Wright began his surge and pulled the Cougars within three on two consecutive layups. After junior Ahmad Mosby (Jersey City, N.J.) completed one-of-two at the free throw line to put Ramapo ahead by four, Wright drilled a three-pointer at 4:43 to pull Kean within one, 79-78. Miller gave the Cougars their first lead of the game just 17 seconds later with a jumper in the paint. Mosby then hit his own jumper to put Ramapo ahead for the final time at 3:48. Wright put Kean ahead for good with another jumper eight seconds later. He then tacked on 10 more points over the final three and a half minutes to seal the victory for Kean.

Wright finished with 32 points, a career high, in 27 minutes of play. Miller ended the day with 12 points and four steals and senior Steve Koenigstein (Toms River, N.J.) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.

Wesley recorded 17 points while Mosby had 14 points, including a 12-for-15 performance from the charity stripe for the Roadrunners.

Today's game featured 58 combined fouls and 73 combined free throw attempts.

This afternoon's matchup also featured Kean University first year head coach Sean Drennan taking on his former mentor Chuck McBreen, under whom he served as an assistant coach at Ramapo for three seasons from 1999 through 2002.