Bearcats Finish Game on 14-9 Run for the Victory
| Former Medford Tech standout, Donte Ali, throws down a two-handed jam to pull FDU-Florham within seven with under 6 minutes to play. Baruch College won, 75-63. |
MADISON, NJ–In a rare Sunday evening contest, FDU-Florham closed out the holiday weekend with a non-conference tilt against Baruch College of New York City. The Devils dug themselves a hole in the first half as the Bearcats came out shooting for a 41-26 halftime lead, and then scored the first two points of the second half for a 17 point advantage. FDU battled back to get within single digits late in the second half, but couldn’t get over the hump as Baruch won, 75-63.
Trailing 43-26 with 19 minutes to play, the Devils went on a 28-18 surge over the next 13 minutes to pull within seven at 61-54. Former Medford Tech standout, Donte Ali, who was teammates with Eli Cain and Myles Powell on the Group 2 state final team that lost to Newark Tech in 2013, capped the rally with a two handed dunk off a nice dish by Jayson Hughes with 5:55 to play. Former St. Mary’s of Elizabeth standout, Veon Lassiter also highlighted the run with a three pointer from the top of the key at the 7:12 mark to pull the Devils within single digits at 59-50.
Baruch gave itself some much needed breathing room with a 7-1 spurt over the next 2:49 to go back up by double digits at 68-55 at the 3:06 mark. FDU-Florham attempted to get back into the game by scoring 8 of the next 9 points over a span of 1:35 that included a trey by Derek Leohner from the right wing at the 2:17 mark, and a three pointer by Hughes from just to the right of the top of the key at the 1:31 mark for a 69-63 Baruch lead, but it couldn’t get any closer. The Bearcats scored the final six points of the game from the line by going 6 of 6 at the charity stripe down the stretch to wrap up the victory.
The Bearcats first half shooting was the difference in this contest. Baruch shot 50 percent for the game by going 27 of 54 from the floor, but 17 of 29 of that came in the first half. In contrast, FDU shot only 24 of 71 for the game including a 10 of 36 showing in the first half. The Devils were able to rally behind the three point shot, where they outscored the Bearcats 27-18 from beyond the arc. FDU-Florham sank 9 of 25 from long range while Baruch was 6 of 15. Baruch College also benefited from the foul line. In the double bonus for the latter portion of the second half, the Bearcats went 15 of 22 for the game while the Devils were only 6 of 12.
Baruch outscored FDU-Florham by a 32-26 margin in the paint. Like they did against Kean two weeks ago, the Bearcats were able to get a couple putbacks from Chimaechi Ekekeugbor down the stretch in the win. The New York City based school also had a decided 33-11 edge in points off the bench. The Devils were able to make up some of that by stepping up the defensive pressure in the second half to force some turnovers (9-20 edge) and create transition opportunities for a 17-6 edge in points off turnovers. The Bearcats held the overall advantage on the boards (39-31) although FDU-Florham had more offensive rebounds (9-8). Baruch had an 8-6 edge in 2nd chance points.
Five different players scored in double figures for Baruch led by Raymond De La Cruz, who scored a team high 15 points in the victory. Ekekeugbor put together a solid double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds while also handing out 6 assists. Doyin Isaac chipped in with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists while William Sixsmith added 12 points and Ethan Hamlett collected 10 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist. For FDU, Ali led the way with a superb all around performance of 15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists, and a block. Leohner (12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists) and Hughes (10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals) were the other players scoring in double figures for the Devils.
GMC NOTES: South Amboy’s Steve Herdman played 28 minutes in the contest for FDU-Florham, and ended up with 7 points including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc while also collecting 2 steals, a rebound, and an assist before fouling out with 3:49 remaining. Entering the contest, Herdman was ranked fourth on the team in scoring with over 12 points per game.