Box Score Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team extended its win streak to eight games as they knocked off previously unbeaten and No. 4 ranked Amherst College, 83-61 on Monday night in Packer Hall. With the win, No. 15 ranked TCNJ is now 10-1, while Amherst College drops to 7-1, having had its 11-game regular-season win streak snapped in the process.
TCNJ’s senior guard Derick Grant (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) netted a game-high 20 points in the victory. TCNJ pulled away in the second half after trailing Amherst by 10 points in the first half, 21-11 (13:22) and clawing back to knot the score at the half, 36-36. Grant added 10 points in each half and now has 1,235 career points, good enough for No. 8 on the College’s all-time scorer list.
Amherst shot an impressive 48.3% from the floor in the first half (14-29) and got 12 first half points from junior guard John Bedford (Ridgewood, NJ/Lawrenceville). Bedford finished with 18 points in the loss, while senior forward Andrew Schiel (Wayne, PA/Conestoga) also added 18 points for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst struggled in the second half from three-point range, connecting on just 3-of-17 treys (17.6%) after hitting 33.3% (5-15) in the first half.
Junior forward John Casnocha (San Francisco, CA/San Francisco University H.S.) added a game-high 11 rebounds for Amherst as they were out rebounded 40-27 on the night.
TCNJ’s senior guard Kyle Burke (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack), this week’s NJAC Player of the Week, added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Lions. Burke, who earlier this season joined the Lions’ 1,000 point club, now has 1,095 career points, placing him as the school’s 14th all-time leading scorer. Junior forward Scott Findlay (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) finished with 16 points and five steals for the Lions.
Down the stretch, TCNJ pulled away early to open the second half and after a 39-39 tie with 19:09 left to play, the Lions would assume the lead on a Grant lay-up with 18:48 left and never looked back. TCNJ led by the rest of the way. Amherst would try to fight back, pulling within five points (54-49, 10:26), but was never able to get any closer as TCNJ hit 14-of-19 free throws and finished the night making 17-of-22 from the charity stripe (77.3%).
TCNJ will travel to NJAC foe, William Paterson University next for an 8:00 p.m. NJAC match-up on January 5, while Amherst College will face Williams College on January 8 at 4:00 p.m. in Williamstown, MA.