Kean Rally
Falls Short, 65-63
UNION, N.J. (1/16/08) - The
College of New Jersey senior forward Mark Aziz
(Hackettstown, N.J.) scored a game-high 21 points and the
Lions held on down the stretch for a 65-63 victory over host Kean
University in New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball
action on Wednesday evening.
For Kean, senior guard Lamar Wright (Galloway,
N.J.) finished with 16 points in his first start since
returning to the Kean lineup after missing eight games with an
injury.
The Cougars trailed by 12 with just over four minutes left,
cutting the deficit in half at 60-54 with 1:32 left in the game and
eventually to four (60-56) with 39 seconds left. 
After four three throws from Aziz pushed the lead back to six on
separate occasions, Kean senior guard Will Floyd (Eustis,
Fla.) pulled Kean within 64-61 with six seconds
remaining. Aziz made 1-of-2 in the final seconds before a
layup by Kean junior Sean Carter (Freehold, N.J.)
with less than a second left put the final margin at 65-63.
In the first half, the Cougars led by as many as nine points at
31-22 following a three-pointer from Wright (pictured right) with
4:08 remaining in the half. The Lions closed out the half
with seven unanswered points, including back-to-back three pointers
from junior guard Jeff Molinelli (Pennington,
N.J.), to pull within 31-29 at the break.
Wright led the Cougars with 12 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots from
the floor, while Aziz had 11 points and four rebounds for
TCNJ.
The Lions used a 15-2 run midway through the second half to build
the lead to 12 points at 58-46 with 6:41 left.
In a game that featured 10 lead changes and four ties, The
College of New Jersey shot 46.2 percent for the game (24-of-52),
while the Cougars used 21 points from the bench.
For the Cougars, freshman forward Jonathan Jones
(Linden, N.J.) (pictured left) had 12 points and five
rebounds, while Carter and Floyd had 11 and 10 points,
respectively, off the bench.
Aziz hit 10-of-12 shots from the charity stripe and added seven
rebounds. Molinelli added 11 points and five rebounds, while
senior guard Jeff Warner (Jackson, N.J.) had a
game-high nine rebounds to go along with nine points.
Kean returns to action on Monday, January 21, when they travel
to College of Staten Island for a non-conference match-up at 2:30
p.m.
