UNION, N.J. (2/6/16) – The Kean University men's basketball team earned a gritty 65-62 NJAC victory over Rowan University on Saturday afternoon. Jerry Crismond led the Cougars with 18 points and Diego Pujols followed with 17.
Kean played catch-up most of the afternoon; Rowan led for 25 minutes of game time and Kean's largest lead (3) came at the best time: the final buzzer. The Cougars out-rebounded the Profs 41-33 and held Rowan to 35 percent field goal shooting.
Click here to see highlights from Saturday's win!
Kean (4-17, 4-11 NJAC) tied the game at 14 with ten minutes to go in the low-scoring first half on a three-pointer by Crismond. The Cougars earned their first lead at 18-17 on a layup from Justin Watson. The Profs fought back, however, and took a four-point lead into the locker room.
Kevin Grek – at times the shortest player on the floor - finished the first half with nine rebounds for the Cougars.
The see-saw battle featured 13 lead changes and four ties. With a little over a minute to go in the matchup, Kris O'Connor sank two free throws to make the score 61-60 Profs. The Cougars answered with a lay-up from Robbie Myers - assisted by Crismond - with 39 seconds left.
Kean fouled and the Harwood Arena crowd help goad the Profs into a pair of missed free throws with 26 seconds to go. Meyers grabbed the rebound and, in contrast, sank both of his free throws to give Kean their largest lead of the night – 3.
Grek got another big rebound on a foul shot miss on the Profs' next trip down the floor and made a free throw of his own to bump the lead back to three. Rowan's desperate bid to tie fell short and the Cougars knocked off their rivals 65-62.
The Profs were led by Chris Gross with 12 points and eight rebounds, followed by Josh Borelli with 11 points. Nick Depersia had four steals.
Grek finished with a team-best 11 rebounds for Kean, and Meyers (pictured left) had 10 points and seven boards. Pujols had a pair of steals and shard the team lead in assists (3) with Grek.
Watson added eight points and Tré Gomez had seven for the Cougars.
Kean will hit the road on Wednesday for an NJAC matchup with William Paterson University at 8 p.m.
