It was a mixed opening weekend for the Ramapo men’s basketball team at Westfield State University’s Rick Martin-Hampton Inn Classic. The Roadrunners started the season off strong with an 87-74 win over Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) on Friday, but fell to Westfield State on Saturday in a 94-76 blowout.
Friday’s game saw an extremely strong showing from the Roadrunners against WCSU. The dominant performance can be attributed to Ramapo being on fire from three-point range, shooting 56% from beyond the arc. This performance was spearheaded by junior Anthony Corbo, who secured a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds and was 3-3 on three pointers.
Other standout performances for the Roadrunners came from Justin Bladen, who recorded 17 points, Jordan Myers, who had 12 points while shooting 5-7 from the field, Elijah Barlow and Tyrell Murchison, who put up 11 and 10 points, respectively.
WCSU was led by high-scoring games from Cameron Gallon, Jaheim Young and Alfonzo Stokes. A high point for the Wolves was the 25 points scored off of Ramapo turnovers, an aspect which the Roadrunners will certainly look to tidy up in future games. Still, the Wolves’ defense wasn’t enough to halt Ramapo’s scoring ability.
The Roadrunners weren’t as fortunate on Saturday vs. Westfield State as the Owls took a triumphant win, mostly thanks to a commanding performance from Brendon Hamilton. Hamilton was a perfect 10-10 from the field with 21 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in just 26 minutes of action.
In addition to Hamilton, four other Westfield State players recorded double figures, including Dom Strother who booked 14 points and Kuany Teng who recorded 13 points while shooting 5-7 from the field. Westfield State dominated Ramapo from close-range with 64 points in the paint. This proved to be the difference-maker for the Owls as it made up for their unthreatening 5-24 on three point attempts.
For Ramapo, strong performances came from junior Peter Gorman, who had 20 points, and Myers, who recorded 15 points and nine rebounds. The Owls ultimately weren’t shaken by the effort from the Roadrunners, who now sit at 1-1.
Over the next two weeks, the Roadrunners will face off against Farmingdale State College, Rutgers-Newark University, Brooklyn College and Kean University. The games against Rutgers-Newark and Kean are New Jersey Athletic Conference matchups.
jlaforg2@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
