Box Score

Lancaster, PA –The College of New Jersey men's basketball team opened competition on Friday night in the Woodrow S.W. Sponaugle New Year's Tournament on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College. The first contest of the tournament saw Susquehanna University tally a75-69 win over Edgewood College to advance to the title game on Saturday night, while the host Diplomats of F & M entered the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. By night's end, the Diplomats had improved to 8-0 with a 78-74 home win over TCNJ as the Lions drop to 4-5.

F & M led 37-35 at the break, before the Diplomats went on a run, holding the Lions scoreless from 9:40 until 5:42 and took a 67-62 lead. TCNJ would fight back and pull within two points, down 72-70 with 3:07 left to play as sophomore forward Steven Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) hauled in a steal and made a layup. F & M went up by three (73-70) with 1:13 left as sophomore forward James McNally (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) hit the second of two free throw attempts. The next time down the floor, the Lions would fail to tie the score as senior Jeff Molinelli (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) put up a three-point shot only to have McNally haul in the defensive rebound. The Diplomats would miss back to back layup attempts in the next 10 seconds as the two teams exchanged timeouts. With :52 left in regulation, TCNJ's junior guard Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) hit a pair of free throws and the Lions cut the lead to just one, down 73-72.

McNally and Frank would exchange scores and F & M held a 76-74 lead with 0:28 left to play before the Diplomats, rookie guard Georgio Milligan (Spring Valley, NY/Don Bosco Prep) hit free throws and gave his squad a 78-74 lead which would stand as the Lions had a pair of missed three-point baskets in the finals seconds of the game.

TCNJ would force 18 turnovers on the night while collecting 10 steals. The Lions would hit 82.4 % (14-17) of their free throws to help on the night, while the Diplomats struggled from the charity stripe 63.6% (14-22). TCNJ led 25-18 in the first half with 7:09 left before the break.

TCNJ's junior guard Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) hit a game-high 21 points, while sophomore forward Steven Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) and junior forward Aaron Syvertsen (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) both netted 13 points for the Lions. Frank hit 9-17 shots from the floor, while leading the team with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

For the Diplomats, rookie Milligan led the way with 16 points with eight assists, while sophomore forward Mike Baker (Maryland Heights, MO/The Whitfield School) added 13 points and 14 rebounds. McNally also finished with 13 points.

TCNJ returns to action on January 3 as they will now face Edgewood College in the consolation game of the Woodrow S.W. Sponaugle New Year's Tournament at 6 p.m.