Over the weekend, Rowan men’s basketball hosted their second home game of the week as they defeated Kean University 99-91.
Previously Rowan suffered their first loss of the season to Stockton University on Dec. 1 by a score of 69-98.
The game against Kean was a tale of two halves for the Profs, as they came out not looking their sharpest. In the first half, Rowan was outscored 50-39 and only shot 32.5% from the field. The Profs also struggled from beyond the arc, only connecting on three of their 15 three-point attempts.
Profs’ defense allowed Kean to make six three-point attempts and jump up to an 11-point lead.
“We were not playing defense well in the first half,” Sophomore forward Andrew Seager said. “The energy was low. We were just letting guys go and were not tracking guys back on defense.”
While the Profs were not proud of their first-half performance, they were able to overcome their woes in the second half. Like a light switch, their field goal percentage jumped from 32.5% to 60.5%. They were also able to get to the line 21 times.
“We didn’t change anything scheme-wise,” Head Coach Joe Crispin said. “I got in at halftime and said to them, ‘Did we really do what we want to do?’ We were not playing with the same energy, guts, or risk-taking that we normally do. In the second half, we played with that juice.”
One of the players that brought the juice on Saturday was Seager, who scored a season-high of 27 points. He connected on nine of his 14 field goal attempts, while adding an additional nine points at the line. Much of his scoring success came from down low, as he was getting fed in the paint.
“My teammates just kept feeding me the ball,” Seager said. “We knew that they could not guard us, and in the beginning of the game, I could tell they were not going to be able to guard me going downhill. At halftime, my teammates said ‘Keep attacking.’”
That is exactly what Seager and his teammates did in the second half, as they outscored Kean 60-41, overcoming a game-high 14 point deficit in the half to defeat Kean 99-91.
While Seager was the star of the day, it was a team effort that helped lead to the win. The bench was able to contribute 38 points, led by junior guard Hafeez Melvin who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“We didn’t play our best game,” Coach Crispin said. “But when you don’t play your best game and find a way to win, you have to feel good about that.”
The men’s team now hits the road for six straight games.
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