Second-Half Surge Lifts Rowan Past Men's Hoops, 88-68

UNION, N.J. (2/15/07) - The Rowan (19-5, 8-4 NJAC) men's basketball team shot 55% en route to an 88-68 over Kean University (13-11, 4-8 NJAC) Thursday evening at Harwood Arena.

Senior Thomas Baker (Millville, N.J.) led the Profs with a game-high 28 points while junior Matt Byrnes (Mays Landing, N.J.) added a double-double 16 points and 10 rebounds in Rowan's sixth straight win. Junior Lamar Wright (Galloway, N.J.) led the Cougars with 20 points off the bench.

Both teams battled early in the first half with four tie scores and two lead changes. With just over 12 minutes remaining in the period, the Profs took the led and held on for the rest of the half. Byrnes initiated a 6-0 run with just under nine minutes to push Rowan's led to 12, their widest margin of the half.

Baker led the Profs with 12 first half points, while Byrnes contributed nine. Wright led the Cougars with 12 points off the bench while senior Steve Koenigstein (Toms River, N.J.) added six.

Rowan stormed out of the lockerroom into the second half, scoring seven straight points as Byrnes tallied five points and sophomore Aaron Spellman (Pine Hill, N.J.) registered two. The Profs widened the gap to as many as 23 points as senior Tim Bowser (Millville, N.J.) netted back-to-back free throws at 5:34.

In all, Rowan outrebounded the Cougars, 56-35, while also shooting 54.8% compared to just 28.9%.

Bowser finished the night with 13 points in 20 minutes while sophomore Kevin Darby (Atco, N.J.) recorded 11 in the win.

Senior Bryan Keller (Piscataway, N.J.) registered 10 points while senior Bryan Miller (Trenton, N.J.) finished with nine in the loss.

Kean will close out the regular season on Saturday, February 17th as they head to Rutgers-Camden for a 3 p.m. tip-off.