Oshodi Paces Cougars Past Staten Island, 75-59

UNION, N.J. (1/19/09) - Sophomore forward Akinwande Oshodi (Florence, N.J.) scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Kean University men's basketball team to a 75-59 victory over College of Staten Island in non-conference action on Monday afternoon. 

Oshodi (pictured left) was a perfect 9-of-9 from the floor for the Cougars (10-8), while junior guard Ryan Hennessey (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the Dolphins (4-12) with 19 points on the strength of five three-pointers.

In the opening half, the Cougars used a pair of 9-0 runs to build a 27-9 lead, capped by a tip-in by sophomore forward Jonathan Jones (Linden, N.J.) with 9:05 remaining in the first half.  Kean extended the lead to as many as 20 points on a pair of occasions and took a 39-21 lead into the break.

Oshodi led the Cougars with 11 points and junior Dean Hughes (Pemberton Twp., N.J.) chipped in with nine points, hitting all four of his field goals.  Hennessey netted 12 points, all on three-pointers, to lead the way for Staten Island.

The Cougars led by double-digits throughout the entire second-half, as the Dolphins could pull no closer than 12 points on several occasions, the last time at 55-43 following a jumper by sophomore guard Dale Taranto (Staten Island, N.Y.) with just under eight minutes remaining.

Kean extended the lead back out to 24 points en-route to the 16-point victory for their third straight win.

In the victory, junior forward Brian Lytle (Union, N.J.) finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jones (pictured right) chipped in with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

For the Dolphins, junior forward Christian Montervino (Trenton, N.J.) scored 12 points and freshman guard Emmanual Frank (Staten Island, N.Y.) had eight points and six rebounds.

Kean returns to New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Saturday, January 24, when the Cougars host Montclair State University in a 3 p.m. contest.