Taz Cantey scored a team-high 24 points and spearheaded a second-half rally, but Rowan’s comeback fell short to TCNJ, 80-77, in an NJAC men’s basketball game that went down to the wire. The loss snaps the Profs five-game winning streak and drops them to 9-7 in conference play, and 9-14 overall.
Cantey scored 20 points in the second half alone and C.J. Hayes hit four three-pointers and scored 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Khalil Baker added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Profs.
Rowan took its first lead of the game with 1:51 remaining when Hayes capped off a 6-0 spurt with a layup to give the Profs a 73-72 advantage. The teams traded leads over that final two minutes, mostly on free throws, and Rowan ended up with three chances in the final 15 seconds.
The Profs didn’t get a shot off on the first, but retained possession and with less than two seconds to play, Hayes’ three-pointer was off the mark. David Alexandre grabbed the rebound for TCNJ (18-5; 13-3) but was called for traveling and the Profs had one more chance at 1.3 seconds. Brycen Williams had a look but his three from the baseline just missed.
TCNJ had a 44-34 lead in the opening minute of the second half but Cantey scored 15 of Rowan’s first 21points to pull his team within 56-55 at 9:04. The Lions remained in the lead and went up by six points, 66-60, with 5:40 left before a three from Williams cut the Profs’ deficit in half.
Hayes had five points in a two-minute stretch which ultimately gave the Profs their first lead of the game at 1:51, but TCNJ went 8-for-8 from the foul line in that final stretch to help seal the victory.
TCNJ opened the game with a 13-0 run as the Profs didn’t score in the first six minutes. Rowan got on the board, but the home team had built up a 25-9 lead by the halfway mark. The Profs scored six straight to get within, 25-15, and with 6:41 left, trailed 29-19. The Lions scored six in a row to push their lead back to 37-21 with over four minutes left in the half. before Rowan ended the period on a 6-1 run to cut its deficit to 42-34 at halftime.
Rowan is on the road again on Saturday when it visits Rutgers-Newark at 6 p.m., with the final regular-season home game set for Wednesday, February 18 against Stockton.