Men's Basketball Opens Season With Win Over Clarion

UNION, N.J. (11/15/08) - Junior guard Vinnie Darpino (Colonia, N.J.) scored a game-high 21 points and added four assists to lead the Kean University men's basketball team to a 68-59 victory over Clarion University in the season opener at home in THE ROCK Cougar Classic presented by Marriott on Saturday evening. 

Sophomore Jonathan Jones (Linden, N.J.) (pictured right) finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory.  For NCAA Division II Clarion, junior Marcus Robinson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was one of three players with 12 points, while also adding a team-high eight rebounds.

In earlier action, New York University defeated University of Redlands, 69-60, behind 15 points and nine rebounds from senior center John Mish (Holland, Pa.).  Kean takes on the Violets on Sunday evening at 6 p.m., while Redlands battles Clarion earlier in the afternoon at 1 p.m.

In the first half, the Cougars scored 17 straight points to erase an early 14-7 deficit and build a 24-14 lead at the midway point of the opening half.  Kean extended the lead to 16 points on three separate occasions en-route to the 40-28 lead at halftime.

Darpino (pictured left) finished with 15 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor and all three of his three-point attempts, while Jones chipped in with 11 points on 4of-5 shooting.  Robinson had seven points in the first half, while senior Josh Yanke (North Canton, Ohio) led the team with eight points.

The Cougars pushed the lead out to 19 points just 3:01 into the second half on a lay-up by sophomore Akinwande Oshodi (Florence, N.J.) for the 47-28 lead.  Clarion trimmed the Cougar lead back into single digits and got as close as three points at 57-54 following a lay-up by sophomore Mike Sherry (Pittsburgh, Pa.) with 4:08 remaining in the game. 

After building a lead back to eight points at 62-54 with 70 seconds remaining, the Cougars knocked down all six of their free throws in the final 29 seconds to seal the nine-point victory.

Oshodi finished with nine points and six rebounds in the win.

For the Golden Eagles, Sherry and Yanke also finished with 12 points, while senior Damon Gross (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rounded out the Clarion players in double-figures with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Earlier in the afternoon, Redlands trimmed an eight-point deficit to one point at 56-55 with 4:12 remaining in the game, before the Violets pulled away for the 69-60 victory. 

In addition to Mish's 15 points, sophomore guard D.J. Glavan (Chicago, Ill.) scored 14 points and dished out five assists for NYU, while sophomore Derek Becker (Manalapan, N.J.) and Richie Polan (Tarzana, Calif.) added 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

For Redlands, sophomore Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored a game-high 27 points, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the floor.  Sophomore Kent Ervin (Bend, Ore.) and freshman Alex Wolpe (Redlands, Calif.) each finished with 11 points.