Rowan men’s basketball struck with a 13-0 run in the second half to grab a 79-61 season-opening win over Eastern University on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

The Profs held just a one-point advantage, but led by Danny Fleming’s offensive barrage and a Khalif Meares defensive masterclass, they broke away to take a 55-41 lead with nine minutes and change to go.

“The players really did that on their own,” head coach Eric Brennan said. “I believe it was our guys that have been with us longer; Drew [Amos], Chris [McCarron], Khalif [Meares]. I give them the freedom to run and jump whenever it feels right to them. I think it made a lot of sense for that group that has been together since last year to take that opportunity during that run, and we got two good steals off that. You could just feel the energy in the gym and feel the energy that brings.”

Meares shined on both ends of the floor and in all facets of the game. He scored a game-high 23 points, and neared quadruple-double territory, adding seven assists, nine rebounds, seven steals and two blocks.

“I take a lot of pride in defense,” Meares said. “I don’t really look to score. I don’t look for the offense first, I look for the defense. Since I was young, I’ve wanted to average at least five to seven steals a game. I’m always in the passing lane. I like to play defense. I’m quick on my feet, and quick with my hands, so I’ve always been a defensive player.”

Meares shot 9-10 at the free throw line, but his miss was the most memorable, as it was tipped in by Eastern to extend the lead to 45-41 with just under 14 minutes left.

“I wish Danny would stay out of foul trouble,” Brennan said. “So, we’ll talk to him about that. Khalif has full freedom to attack the rim. There’s no primary defender that’s going to stay on him. It’s always going to be reading that second defender. If he can take him to the rim or find the kick-out; he had seven assists tonight, that’s what we’re going to need out of him. I got to let these guys play. We have dynamic players on the team, I’d be foolish to constrict them in any way.”

Fleming tallied 15 points on the night but scored 13 of those in the second half to propel the Profs to victory. He took over during Rowan’s second half run that made their lead safe, and Eastern’s defense was lost trying to keep up with him.

“We were just taking our time,” Fleming said. “I’m trying to sugarcoat it, but no one could really guard me on that team. I’m not even trying to be extravagant or anything. They were giving me space and I would shoot it, and when they were on me I would get by them. You hit a shot, they have to play you more, and you can get by them. It’s kind of a mind game type of thing. Hitting shots helps the rest of the offense flow and they have to respect it.”

In the first half, Rowan’s defense led to a mass of transition opportunities on the fast-break, but the game remained tight, as the Profs just couldn’t pull away. The second half showed how the transition game can provide a huge run.

“If the transition game is working, roll with it,” Brennan said. “We’re a transition team, so if a team wants to pressure us, we’ll play that type of game. The only thing I make our guys aware of in transition is if we miss two or three, the next time down we got to get a good one. If we’re taking too many contested jump shots, we got to get away from that. Anytime we can attack the rim, they have full freedom to do that.”

After a tough weekend defensively at the New York University (NYU) Classic tournament, the Profs allowed their lowest point total of the season by 32 points.

“It felt good, even more-so defensively, we played really tough tonight,” Brennan said. “We held them to 61, where this weekend we were letting up 95 and 100 points. It felt great to get the first win. I told these guys we got a rough schedule. NYU is a really good team, Ithica battled with us too, and Eastern was picked to win their conference. Our non-conference schedule is no joke, and these guys got to be ready to go. They responded well tonight and got us our first win. First win at home, and now we got Montclair, a division game, coming up on the 26th.”

The Profs filled the gym with energy in the second half, and with the next two games also at home, the feel of the season has shifted. Eastern entered the game 2-0 as the projected winner of their conference, so this was a huge out-of-conference victory.

“Keep that energy high,” Fleming said. “We’ve been struggling to keep energy the first two games we start 0-2. We made it a point of emphasis tonight to keep the high and to rebound and play more defense, which we were lacking. Now, it’s all starting to click. I think we have the most talent on the DIII level skill wise, but we have a lot of new players this year, so we’re trying to figure out where to put the pieces. We’re going to click, and today was starting to click. We’re not where we want to be but we took a step in the right direction.”

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