Box Score
Brooklyn, NY – The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team dropped an 86-81 decision on the road on Tuesday night as the Lions fell to Brooklyn College. TCNJ is now 1-1 on the young season, while Brooklyn stands at 1-0 after recording the opening night victory. Daniel Nisbett (Staten Island, NY/Michael J. Petrides) and Richard Jean-Baptiste (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) each netted 23 points in the victory.
TCNJ’s junior Aaron Syvertsen (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) exploded for a career-high and game-high 26 points, but it was not enough. Syvertsen’s previous career-best was 13 points.
Nisbett provided much of the early firepower as he converted on three three-pointers in the game's opening six minutes, helping the Bridges build and early 19-9 lead. A three-pointer by junior guard Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/ Memorial) capped a 12-4 run by the Lions that cut the score to 23-21 midway through the opening half. Brooklyn built the lead back up to six points on a pair of free-throws by Thomas Guerin (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep). A three-pointer by rookie guard Pete Kelly (Mercerville, NJ/Nottingham) knotted the score at 33-33 with four minutes to play in the period.
A triple by Syvertsen put the Lions up by three, but was quickly countered by a Darnell Cudjoe (Brooklyn, NY/Murray Bergtraum) three-point play. That was quickly followed by a three-point play from Guerin giving BC a 41-38 advantage. A Syvertsen jumper in the closing seconds of the half sent the teams to the locker room separated by just one point.
The second stanza started as a back-and-forth affair, as the teams traded baskets in the early going. Sophomore Ahmad Hemingway (Brooklyn, NY/Curtis) and Jean-Baptiste combined to score 11 of the first 13 points scored by the Bridges in the period. With the game knotted at 65-65, TCNJ erupted on a 13-4 run to build a nine point edge with just under six minutes remaining.
A tri-fecta from Jean-Baptiste, the CUNYAC Preseason Player of the Year, touched off an 11-3 Bridges rally that tied the score at 81-81 with 2:13 to go. Another foul shot from Jean-Baptise put Brooklyn on top for good. The Lions were held scoreless over the final 2:51 of regulation, as Nisbett scored the final four points of the game from the charity stripe to set the final margin.
In addition to the 23 points scored by Nisbett and Jean-Baptiste, Hemingway poured in 18. Guerin had a game-high five assists to go along with his nine points, while Cudjoe led the Bridges with seven rebounds. TCNJ was paced by a game-high 26 points from Syvertsen. Frank added 17 points for the Lions.
TCNJ returns to action on November 21 when they will face Gwynedd-Mercy College in the opening road of Alvernia University’s Tip-Off Tournament at 6 p.m.