Ramapo College Rolls Past Kean, 95-57

Consistency and effort are what Ramapo College (7-1, 5-0 NJAC) Head Coach Chuck McBreen said his team had to improve on after struggling in a 60-47 victory over Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday. On Saturday against Kean University (1-6, 1-4 NJAC) at Harwood Arena in Union, the Roadrunners got the opportunity to turn the corner.

With McBreen calling out the seniors’ sluggish play, Josh Ford and Christopher Moseley took it upon themselves to make a statement early. They attacked the basket relentlessly from the perimeter and in the paint scoring 24 of the of the Roadrunners’ 49 first-half points. Moseley provided some highlight reel dunks as well. Up 12-9 with less than 15 minutes to go in the first half, Ramapo went on a 15-0 tear.

“Coach (McBreen) told us to find the gap in the zone and attack the open spots and try to get easy baskets both inside and outside,” Ford said. “My teammates were able to find me for open shots as well. We have been struggling coming out strong and finishing out a game, and it was good to come and execute and play defense.”

Up 35-16, Ramapo’s offense hit a wall over the next two and half minutes allowing the Cougars to go on a 9-0 run. Jimbo Long squashed the run unleashing a pair of trifectas boosting the Ramapo advantage to 18. In the second half, the Roadrunners had plenty left in the tank shooting a blistering 61 percent from the field.

Not just clicking on all cylinders offensively, Ramapo ramped up the defensive pressure leading to numerous fast break and transition points. The Roadrunners forced Kean into 25 turnovers which led to 37 points. Opening up the second half with 8-0 run and adding a 16-3 run late, the game was put away for good.

Ford finished the game with a season-high 17 points while Thomas Bonacum poured in 16 points. Moseley contributed 12 points and nine rebounds while Long added 11 points and Rob Lewis came off the bench to score 10 points. The Roadrunners dominated the points in the paint 50-20 and held a significant edge on the boards 49-23.

“Most complete game and effort all year we gave and very happy and never gave them a chance to get back into the game and really impressed me today both with the starters and bench,” said McBreen. “Both of them (Josh Ford) and (Christopher Moseley) came aggressively out of the gate. For us to come in here and do what we did, I was happy.”

“Off the bench, Rob Lewis gave us good energy from the get-go and a plus. Jordan (Zagadou), Connor (Romano) and Rob (McWilliams) gave us valuable minutes off the bench.”

“At the end of the day we shot the ball a little better, and it was a worry of ours because we hadn’t been shooting the ball well and knew they were going to play zone the whole game and we made a few.”

Winners of seven in a row, Ramapo gets to enjoy several days off before returning to the hardwood on Friday, December 15th against Farmingdale College at the Bradley Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“We have a couple of days off and play a real good Farmingdale team that made the NCAA tournament last year and who only lost one player,” McBreen said. “We have our work cut out for us and fortunately got through that game and one more before the break at Yeshiva University and then head to Vegas. Hopefully a start to become more consistent.”