NCAA Tournament first round:
#11 Virginia Wesleyan 85, Stockton 82

Michael Farrow

Boxscore
Richard Stockton (20-8) nearly rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half before falling short 85-82 to 11th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan (23-5) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Michael Farrow (Whitesboro/Middle Twp.) led the Ospreys with a career-high 31 points plus eight rebounds. Stockton forced 21 turnovers on defense and went 30-41 (73.2%) at the free throw line, but they shot just 2-14 (14.3%) from three-point range.

Senior Omar Smith (Newark/Central) scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for a double-double in his final college game. Fellow senior Santini Lancioni (Runnemede/ Paul VI) tossed in 17 points in his last game. Lancioni finished his career with 1,061 points while Smith netted 983 points in four seasons at Stockton.

Virginia Wesleyan raced out to a 7-0 lead before the Ospreys got on the board on a layup by Matt Haddix (Sicklerville/Vineland) 2:30 into the game. Farrow later capped a 6-0 run with a layup that put Stockton ahead 36-32 with 3:49 left in the half, but Virginia Wesleyan outscored the Ospreys 10-3 the rest of the way to drop them into a 42-39 hole at the break. Farrow and Smith propelled the Stockton offense with 15 and 10 points respectively.

Virginia Wesleyan pulled away in the second half, opening up a 72-60 lead with 7:03 remaining in the game. Farrow then scored five straight points and Smith followed with a layup to spark a Stockton rally. Virginia Wesleyan re-established an eight-point lead, but the Ospreys fought back again. Lancioni scored the last five points of a 9-2 spurt that got Stockton within 80-79 with 1:49 on the clock.

After a basket by the Marlins made it a three-point game, Stockton suffered two turnovers and two missed three-pointers on its next four possessions. Virginia Wesleyan hit two free throws before Farrow drained a trey to cut Stockton’s deficit to two at 84-82 with four seconds to play. The Marlins then hit one of two free throws and a 28-foot heave by Pat Kelly (Cape May CH) at the buzzer was off the mark. The Ospreys finished the season at 20-8 after making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.