!["Between poems, owner of Words Matter Bookstore and host Keryl Hausmann spoke, saying 'To listen to [poetry] is different than to read it.'" - Graphics Editor / Brendan Cohen](https://thewhitonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_0653.png)
As students were enjoying their time away from school during winter break, the Rowan men’s basketball team was already settled into the Esby Gymnasium.
The team hosted a struggling Kean University team four days into 2017. They won that game in a 78-67 victory.
The victory against the Cougars begins the second half of the season for the Profs, which consists solely of conference match-ups.
The brown and gold are just above .500 with a 4-3 record in the new year, while maintaining an overall mark of 12-7. In Joe Crispin’s first year as head coach, he said his team is doing relatively well.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Crispin said. “Naturally, like most coaches, I’m never really satisfied. I always think we should be a little bit better, but over the break, we added a player [DaRon Curry] and we lost a couple guys to injuries and some other stuff. So, there was a little bit of a transition and we haven’t been at our best yet. Ultimately, our goal has always been to be the best we can be at the end of the year, get into the playoffs, and see what we can do.”
Looking ahead toward the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs, the brown and gold currently hold the fourth seed behind Ramapo College, New Jersey City University and The College of New Jersey. The Profs are 0-3 against all three teams thus far, but could even up their record in the upcoming weeks, as the Profs will face off against each of the three teams again before the season is over.
“Now’s the time to get a streak going. You know, for me, I wouldn’t have even known who we play next,” Crispin said. “I’m kind of one-at-a-time, do the best we can on each given night with who we have. If we do that, I think it’ll take care of itself. At the end of the day, people ask me our record and I’m like ‘I don’t pay attention to it.’ It’s like, we are in fifth-place, but if all we do is worry about that, then you’re going to end up lower. Just play the games out, let things take care of themselves. If we do that, we will be fine.”
On Wednesday night, the team blew out Rutgers-Camden, 105-85. Sophomore guard Nick DePersia led all scorers with 29 points.
The brown and gold will see action again on Saturday against Montclair State.
For comments/questions about this story, email sports@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.
