By Jacob Keppen – Sports Writer for The Sentinel of Gloucester County Weekly Newspaper
Published in Print Edition Week of 2/7/2019
Rowan Men’s Basketball haven’t lost too much this season, sitting at a 17-5 record. Most of those losses came in a stretch early in the season, with Rowan racking up wins throughout the rest of the season. Rowan had not lost a game in 2019 yet, going on a six game win streak over some of the top competition in the NJAC conference. Their streak would be snapped in Mahwah against Ramapo 77-65. How would Rowan respond to adversity, especially this late in the season with how much they had won. Could they simply move past the loss, or would it stall them with conference tournament play upcoming.
Rowan would rebound from the loss well with a high scoring 100-95 victory over Stockton. Stockton couldn’t stop the Profs offense, with the Profs getting into triple digits for the first time this season. They looked unstoppable on offense, raining down three pointers (going 17-37 from three point land). The one area Rowan did struggle was once again at the foul line, shooting 42%.
Nick DePersia was an unstoppable sniper for Rowan, scoring 29 points and racking up 9 made three pointers. Ramon Wright did everything in this game for the Profs. He contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds, whilst sending away four shots and earning three steals. DaRon Curry and Rob DePersia were the perfect playmaking duo, with Curry dishing out 8 assists and DePersia dishing out 6. This was Rowan’s offense at it’s best.
Rowan’s offense would keep rolling in a nail biting 92-90 victory over Montclair State. The Red Hawks had a a five point lead (90-85) with 30 seconds left. The Profs would go on to score seven straight for the victory. Rob DePersia would hit a big layup, and then followed that up with two free throws on the next possession. His brother Nick DePersia would hit a huge three-pointer with nine seconds to go to win the game for Rowan.
Nick DePersia once again lit it up from outside, hitting 4 threes en route to 23 points. It was a great team performance for Rowan, with six of their players reaching double digit points (Diante Bah just missed out with 9 points).
Rowan scored well from every area on the court, lighting it up from three (40%) and even the foul line where they shot 87%. That success at the foul line will be huge for Rowan when it comes to the tournament, the impact of making free throws could already be seen in this close game. If Rowan were to have a bad game at the line, they probably fall short in this one.
This week showed that the loss to Ramapo was an aberration, with the Profs offense looking back to form. Rowan are currently a game behind NJAC conference leaders NJCU in the standings with three games left to play.
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