#5 Stockton 88, Western Connecticut 86

Santini Lancioni

Boxscore
Fifth-ranked Richard Stockton (2-1) outscored Western Connecticut (1-1) 88-86 in the first round of the Vassar College Invitational. Santini Lancioni (Runnemede/Paul VI) scored a career-high 24 points and Kai Massaquoi (Lawnside/Haddon Hts.) tallied 15 points. Omar Smith (Newark/Central) netted 12 points and Matt Haddix (Sicklerville/Vineland) established a new career high with 12 points.

Stockton broke out to an 11-4 lead, but the Ospreys later fell behind by six in a back-and-forth first half. Lancioni sank three free throws to pull Stockton within 39-37 with three seconds left in the period but Western Connecticut answered with a three-pointer for a 42-37 advantage at intermission.

Stockton tried to break the game open in the second half as Massaquoi scored six points during a 12-3 run that gave the Ospreys a 77-65 lead with 7:02 remaining. Western Connecticut cut the Stockton lead down to one with 1:51 on the clock and again with 32 seconds to play. Stockton then went 1-4 at the line, with Massaquoi hitting the lone free throw for an 88-86 lead before the Ospreys survived two missed three-pointers by Western Connecticut for the two-point win.