| Men's Basketball 3/14/08 | ||||
| NCAA Tournament sectionals: Amherst 85, Stockton 77 | ||||
The Stockton men’s basketball team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with an 85-77 loss to defending national champion Amherst in the NCAA sectionals at Plattsburgh State (NY). Seniors Jon Greene (Wildwood/Wildwood) and Mario Lancioni (Runnemede/Triton) paced Stockton with 16 and 14 points respectively in their final game for the Ospreys. Lancioni also dished a game-high eight assists.
Jerome Hubbard (Neptune/Neptune) tallied 11 points and Omar Smith (Newark/Central) tossed in 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Stockton gamely rallied from an early 19-point deficit to within two points twice in the second half before ultimately falling short. Stockton’s remarkable season, which included its first NJAC championship since 1997 and highest win total since 1998-99 (23-6), came to an end with a 22-7 final record.
Stockton missed its first 11 shots, nine field goals and two free throws, to begin the game as Amherst raced out to a 17-0 lead. Greene finally sank a jumper at the 14:39 mark to give the Ospreys their first points. Amherst took its largest lead of the half at 25-6 on a three-pointer with 11:27 left in the period, but Stockton battled back and closed the half with a three-pointer by Lancioni and a basket by Smith to pull within 42-30.
Amherst shot a blistering 10-17 (58.8%) from three-point range in the first half, including five consecutive treys in an early three-minute span, while Stockton was just 3-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. Kevin Brown (Neptune/Neptune) gave the Ospreys a spark off the bench with a team-high eight points and Lancioni added seven points in the period for Stockton.
Hubbard and Lancioni scored five points apiece as Stockton began the second half with a 12-2 run to pull within 44-42. After an Amherst basket, Kai Massaquoi (Lawnside/Haddon Hts.) sank two free throws to again close the gap to two points, but the Lord Jeffs answered with a three-pointer and the Ospreys would get no closer. Amherst later broke the game open with a 10-0 spurt that gave the Lord Jeffs a 79-64 lead with 4:18 remaining and Stockton could not produce another rally, trailing by double digits until the final 38 seconds before falling 85-77. |
