It was an emotional sendoff on the Chuck McBreen court Saturday, as Ramapo’s entire starting five, consisting of Peter Gorman, Justin Bladen, Anthony Corbo, Shane Rooney and Jordan Myers, played in their final regular season home game as Roadrunners. Ramapo’s own “fab five” have been starting together for each of their four years here, and their veteran status proved itself with a mammoth double-overtime victory over Stockton University.
As important as Saturday’s game was for the five seniors, it was equally, if not more vital for Ramapo’s positioning in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) playoffs. Entering the day, Stockton held a one-game lead over the Roadrunners for the second spot in the NJAC tournament.
The first half saw Ramapo take a steady seven-point lead, headed by Gorman scoring 23 points in the period. The second half saw the Roadrunners continue to increase their lead, going up by as many as 15 points midway through the frame. However, a scoring run by Stockton guard and NJAC Player of the Week Logan McKee got the Ospreys within four points with under two minutes to play.
Stockton played the free throw game down the stretch, never letting the Roadrunner lead increase to greater than four. With 31 seconds remaining, the Ospreys sent Rooney to the line, where he made just one of two shots to make it a one-score game. After Gorman and Stockton’s Devon Johnson exchanged a pair of free throws, the Ospreys got the ball back down three with 13 seconds on the clock.
“Ramapo’s entire starting five, consisting of Peter Gorman, Justin Bladen, Anthony Corbo, Shane Rooney and Jordan Myers, played in their final regular season home game as Roadrunners.”
Narrowly avoiding a botched inbound play, Stockton’s EJ Matthews-Spratley got the ball and nailed a deep three-pointer to tie the game with four seconds remaining. Having no timeouts left, Ramapo was unable to get a final shot off, sending the game to overtime.
The first overtime period saw six lead changes before Stockton held a two-point lead with 12 seconds remaining. Corbo got the ball and drove to the rim, where he was fouled by Christian Armstrong-Thomas, sending Ramapo’s best free-throw shooter to the line. Corbo nailed both despite the mounting pressure, and with no timeouts left, Matthews-Spratley had to hoist up a three-pointer that would miss wide, sending the game to a second overtime.
Ramapo took control early in the second overtime frame after a few baskets by Gorman, Myers and Corbo put the Roadrunners up three. With two minutes remaining, McKee nailed another three-ball, tying the game at 95. After a timeout, Ramapo got the ball back and saw Myers score easily inside, putting Ramapo up two.
Both teams seemed to be out of gas from that point on, struggling to score the ball in any capacity. Myers was sent to the line with the Roadrunners up two, giving him a chance to put the game on ice. However, Myers twisted his ankle on the foul, and was unable to make either free throw. With seven seconds left, Stockton had a chance to tie the game, but a missed jumper from Eriq Campbell sealed the Roadrunners’ 97-95 win.
The victory was a milestone for Coach McBreen as well, as he is now top five all time in wins in New Jersey college basketball history across Divisions I, II and III. Gorman led the Roadrunners in the win with 39 points, which was not only a career high, but two points shy of Ramapo’s single-game record of 41 set by LaQuan Peterkin in 2009. Gorman’s 39 points is now the record for most scored by a Roadrunner in an NJAC game, breaking his own record of 38 from earlier this season.
Each senior member of the starting five played a large majority of the game, including Gorman playing all 50 minutes, Bladen playing 46, Myers 45, and Rooney and Corbo with 43 each. Myers was a huge factor for Ramapo on the defensive end, tallying three blocks and three steals along with 10 rebounds, while Rooney tallied his 1,000th career point.
The Roadrunners beat William Paterson University on Wednesday night 84-64 on the road. With a win from Montclair State University against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Ramapo’s win along with TCNJ’s loss puts them as the No. 2 seed in their respective conference. The team will have a first-round bye going into the playoffs.
wjackso2@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
