Brookdale Men Deflate The Dukes Of Rowan Cumberland To Advance In Region XIX Tourney

Lincroft, NJ - The Jersey Blues entered the Region XIX Division III Tournament as the seventh seed and defeated the eighth seed, Rowan College South Jersey-Cumberland, 88-83. The Dukes matched up well with Brookdale as the two teams split wins and losses this season leading into Saturday's game.

While the game went basket for basket in the first half, neither team had a significant lead at any point and both hit the locker rooms with a 36-34 Brookdale lead. 

Brookdale continued to lead the way throughout the second half and advanced with a 10 point lead at one point. However, the Dukes put together a monstrous rally and nearly completed the comeback by getting within two points. With 45 seconds remaining in the game, freshman guard, Jelani Carter, hit a three pointer to push Brookdale's lead to five points to defeat Cumberland.

Carter finished as the leading scorer with 27 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Sophomore guard, David Calloway, also went on a shooting spree with his 22 points and dishing six assists as fellow classmate forward, Tyler Hawkins, connected for 19 points. Freshman guard, Allen Ozojie, was also huge under the boards with 12 rebounds on the afternoon.

The Brookdale men continue their post season play on the road to the #2 seed, Montgomery CC, in the Region XIX Tournament second round on Tuesday, February 25th, @ 7pm. 

Photo above courtesy of Tom Smith