Box Score CHESTER, PA – The Rowan University men's basketball team held off Farmingdale State College, 89-87 in the first round of the Widener University Tip-Off for Autism Awareness on Friday night.
On Saturday, Rowan (1-1) meets Widener (1-0) in the championship at 4 p.m. while Farmingdale State (0-1) advances to the consolation game versus Medgar Evers (1-1) at 2 p.m. Widener defeated Medgar Evers, 101-61 in the other first round game.
With 28 seconds left, forward
Shawn Wilson (sr. Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) made a free throw, which put the Profs ahead 88-82. The Rams followed with a layup by forward George Riefenstahl (so. Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) (0:17) and guard Jarred Marrow (jr. Amityville, NY/St. Anthony's) hit a three-pointer (0:07). Farmingdale State trailed 88-87. Guard
Joey Montalvo (sr. Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington County Reg.) hit the second of two shots at the line (0:04) for a two-point advantage (89-87). Farmingdale State turned the ball over with one second remaining.
Wilson ended the game with a career-high 30 points and five rebounds. Guard
Nick DePersia (so. Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Mem.) contributed with 17 points, eight assists and five steals. His eight assists were a career-mark. Forward Tomas Malmsjö (fr. Malmö, Sweden/Malmö Idrottsgymnasium) chipped in with nine points and forward
Brian Thatcher (fr. North Port, FL/Charlotte) added seven. Forward
Gary Carthan (sr. Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown Reg.) and Montalvo each grabbed six rebounds.
The Rams had five players that scored in double figures. Riefenstahl produced 18 points and pulled down 22 rebounds. Guard Ali Mableton (so. Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) totaled 15 points while forward Weldon Irvine (sr. Queens, NY/Hewlett) had 11. Irvine also registered seven boards. Guard Liam Monaghan (jr. Rockaway Beach, NY/Xavier) and Marrow scored 10 points apiece.
Farmingdale State started the second half with a five-point lead (33-28). Mableton's basket at 18:08 made the score 37-36. Rowan went ahead (44-37) after eight unanswered points. Wilson scored five points and DePersia sank a three. Mableton tied the score at 46 (15:58) with two foul shots. The Profs took back the lead (56-46) with a 10-point run that ended at 13:19. DePersia and Montalvo each drilled a three-pointer while Thatcher and Wilson each had two points.
Wilson's three at 9:19 gave the Profs a 13-point advantage (67-54). Rowan had its biggest lead (68-54) after a free throw by DePersia with 8:56 left. Malmsjö had two points at the line (5:26) and Rowan was up 78-66. The Rams had a 7-0 spurt to pull within five points (78-73) at the 4:11 mark. Riefenstahl contributed with five points and Marrow added two free throws. Farmingdale cut the deficit to four (80-76) at 2:54 with a foul shot by Monaghan.
With 47 seconds left, Monaghan scored with a layup and the Rams were down by five (85-80). DePersia hit two foul shots (0:37) and the score was 87-80. Guard Matthew Graham (so. Valley Stream, NY/Elmont) had a layup with 29 ticks on the clock to trail by five (87-82). Wilson then had a free throw (0:28) to lead by six (88-82) before Farmingdale State's final run.
The score was tied six times in the first half and there were only three lead changes. The last tie was at 25-25 when Rowan guard
Jeff Haddock (fr. Burlington, NJ/Willingboro) hit a jumper (5:52). Farmingdale had six straight points to lead 31-25 at 2:34. The Profs ended the period with three foul shots and they trailed by three (0:29). The Rams closed the scoring with a layup (0:01) to lead 33-28 at the break.
