GLASSBORO, NJ –
Austin Kearney scored 19 points and
Maliq Sanders had 17 as the Rowan men's basketball team opened the season with a 105-93 win over Cairn University at Esby Gym.
The Profs placed five players in double figures with
Diante Bah and
Jerry Price scoring 16 apiece and
Connor Dickerson adding 10 points. Kearney, Bah and Sanders each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Bah shot 8-for-10 from the field.
Leading 77-71, Rowan went on an 11-0 run led by six points from Sanders to open up an 85-71 lead at 7:40 on a jumper by Price.
The Highlanders answered with a 12-0 run of their own, paced by five points from Malachi Hall, to cut the Rowan lead to 85-83. The Profs then scored eight straight points, including a dunk by
Ryan O'Leary, to build it back up to 93-83 with 2:41 left, and closed it out with a 7-for-9 effort from the foul line.
Cairn shot 51.3 percent and led by as much as six points in the first half, before Rowan tied it 45-45 on a three-pointer by Dickerson. The teams were tied again in the final minute but O'Leary put in a layup at the buzzer to give the Profs a 59-41 lead at intermission.
Cairn made 7-of-13 three-pointers in the first half but Rowan limited them to just 2-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Julian Collazo led Cairn with 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting while Hall tallied 20 points for the Highlanders.
Rowan will head on the road this weekend to Susquehanna University for the Susquehanna Trailways Tip-Off Tournament, facing Lehman College on Saturday.
