MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM ADVANCES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

STOCKTON OSPREYS UPDATE

(March 7) The Stockton men’s basketball team outlasted Immaculata 84-75 in overtime before a raucous Sports Center crowd of 907 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For the third consecutive game, the Ospreys won despite trailing in the final minute of regulation. Jon Greene (Wildwood/Wildwood) led Stockton with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Mario Lancioni (Runnemede/ Triton) scored 18 points and Omar Smith (Newark/Central) tossed in 11 points.
The Ospreys trailed 68-64 with 2:34 remaining in the second half before a three-point play by Smith pulled Stockton within one. After two Immaculata free throws, Santini Lancioni (Runnemede/Paul VI) swished a three-pointer to tie the game at 70 with 54 seconds on the clock and both teams missed their final shots in regulation.
Greene opened the scoring in overtime with a layup and Smith followed with two free throws for a 74-70 lead. Immaculata closed the gap to two points twice in the next 1:23, but layups first by Jerome Hubbard (Neptune/Neptune) and then by Greene increased Stockton’s lead each time and the Ospreys went 5-8 at the line in the final minute to seal the 84-75 win.
Greene scored 17 first-half points to propel Stockton to a 31-30 lead at halftime despite 0-7 three-point shooting by the Ospreys. Stockton opened up a 59-50 lead after a basket by Kevin Brown (Neptune/Neptune) with 7:06 on the second-half clock, but Immaculata rallied with an 18-5 run to pull ahead 68-64 before Stockton’s late-game heroics forced overtime and led to its sixth consecutive victory.
(March 8) Jerome Hubbard scored a game-high 24 points to propel Stockton to a 78-70 victory over Rhode Island College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the victory, Stockton advanced to the NCAA Tournament sectionals (round of 16) at Plattsburgh State (NY) on March 14-15. Kevin Brown tallied a career-high 16 points and Mario Lancioni netted 11 points for Stockton.
After eight lead changes in the first 11 minutes, Stockton began to take control of the game. Hubbard scored five points and Lancioni added four during a 16-4 run that gave the Ospreys a 30-20 lead. Hubbard later tallied the final four points of the first half on a layup and two free throws to give Stockton a 36-23 lead at intermission. Rhode Island College shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the period.
In the second half, the Ospreys led by double digits until the final 18 seconds of the game. After Rhode Island pulled within 39-29, Hubbard sank a three-pointer that ignited a 7-0 spurt for a 46-29 advantage. Stockton’s lead peaked at 24 points, 60-36, on a three-pointer by Fran Kelly (Wildwood/Wildwood Catholic) with 9:54 remaining, and Stockton rolled to its seventh consecutive win. The Ospreys advanced to the NCAA sectionals for the first time since their last NCAA berth in 1999.
(March 10) Jon Greene was named the NJAC Player of the Week for the second time this season and third time in his career. Greene averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent from the field in Stockton’s two NCAA Tournament wins last week.