Stockton Outscores Rowan Final 96-91
Thursday, January 27, 2022
GALLOWAY, NJ – Stockton outscored Rowan, 10-3, in the final 2:16 of the game to hold on to a 96-91 win in NJAC men's basketball action this evening. Hafeez Melvin scored a career-high 23 points for Rowan (15-4; 8-4 NJAC), which has its three-game winning streak come to an end.
Melvin connected on 8-of-11 from the field to lead the Profs, while hitting 5-for-7 from three-point range. Marcellus Ross scored 18 points and Arian Azemi tallied 14 for Rowan, which also received 11 points from Andrew Seager.
Ross connected on a three with 2:24 to play to give Rowan its last lead of the game, 86-88. Stockton answered with a jumper by D.J. Campbell and then a three from Kyion Flanders with 1:28 to play, which gave Stockton a 91-88 lead.
After a free throw and then a layup increased Stockton's lead to 94-88, Rowan's Azemi hit a three-pointer with 11.1 seconds to go, to give the Profs life and pull them within 94-91. But Flanders would ice the game with a pair of free throws at :09, to give the Ospreys their second win over Rowan this season.
With 19 lead changes, this meeting was markedly different than the first, as Stockton defeated Rowan by a lopsided score of 98-69 on December 1.
The second half was tight, with neither team able to hold an advantage of more than four points.
In the first half, Stockton held the early lead, 18-12, before Rowan's Arian Azemi rattled off eight straight points to allow the Profs to take a 20-18 lead. The teams went back-and-forth before Stockton went on an 8-0 run of its own to regain an advantage, 31-25. Despite Rowan pulling within one, 43-42, on a three-pointer by Hafeez Melvin at 1:22, the Ospreys took a 44-42 lead into intermission.
Rowan returns home on Saturday, January 29 to host William Paterson in a 3 p.m. start.