Both men's and women's basketball teams won the CACC Championship titles this season, with the last time both teams earned that distinction being in the 2008-09 season. Men's basketball defeated Bloomfield 89-69 while women's basketball won their CACC title over Chestnut Hill 61-39.


WHAT HAPPENED - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Bloomfield got out early 5-0 by way of Deavion Ellis three and layup. The Rams evened it at 7-7 by Hakim Byrd shot beyond the arc and Ahmed Barba-Bey good shot. After trade baskets, Byrd made three straight three pointers, giving him 14 of his 16 first half points in the first eight minutes of the half. Building a 20-11 lead, the Bears went on a 9-2 run to trail by two points. Erik Timko got a layup and three, pushing Jefferson ahead 30-24 with 7:19 in the first half. 

Bismark Nsiah and Byrd both made their shots to get the first double digit lead of the contest, with the Rams being up 34-24. Bloomfield and Jefferson started to trade shots, as the Bears Izaiah Poole and the Rams' Ashton Miller made threes while Edward Ngene and Antonin Kemkeng hit layups with the game standing at 39-32. Nsiah put down two free throws, took a defensive rebound while hitting a layup, and finished it off with a steal that lead to Timko slamming a dunk down as Jefferson went into the break up 50-36 over the Bears. 

Jefferson delivered a stellar first half, shooting 73.1% on the floor with 19 of their 26 shots going in the basket. 8-10 of those were from beyond the arc, with Byrd going 4-5 in the first half, as the Rams were 80% on threes. Jefferson was 4-4 from the charity stripe in the first half. Bloomfield made 13-of-31 shots, holding a 41.9 shooting percentage. The Bears were 4-14 from three, holding a 28.6% from that range. Bloomfield went a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. 

Second half saw each team trade shots, with Timko making a three while Ellis finished an and-one play. Ngene put up a layup with teammates Abdallah Elsaleh and Al Fatir to draw the Bears within 10 points of Jefferson early in the second half. Kemkeng made his layup and Barba-Bey put in both free throws for the Rams to retake the 14 point lead. Both Bloomfield and Jefferson began to trade shots back and forth, neither side allowing their opposition any chance to differentiate the score. The Rams broke that standstill, outscoring Bloomfield 9-3 as they held their lead as high as a 20-point differential.   

Nsiah making a three and Byrd's two free throws got Jefferson up 84-65 with less than 3:30 to go in the game. Jefferson went to get another offensive rebound, outrebounding the Bears 13-9 in that category with 11 of those from the Rams came in the second half. Nsiah's driving layup was the last score from the starters, with the Rams' replacing their players to finish out the last minute of the game. Jack Moynihan made the most of it with a three-pointer from the senior as Jefferson went out to take the CACC Championship title 89-69, winning the conference tournament for the first time since 2018-19 season. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Hakim Byrd: 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting (5-8 3PT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals 
Erik Timko: 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3-6 3PT), 6 rebounds 
Bismark Nsiah: 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting (1-1 3PT), 11 rebounds, 5 assists 
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2-5 3PT), 3 assists 
Antonin Kemkeng: 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists 

ALL-TOURNAMENT 
Jefferson had four of their players make the All-CACC Tournament Team. Antonin Kemkeng, Erik Timko, Bismark Nsiah, and Hakim Byrd. Byrd also secured the CACC Tournament MVP distinction. 

SIXTH CHAMPIONSHIP, FIRST TITLE 
This win gives Jefferson their sixth CACC Championship in school history, the 14th conference title for the Rams overall. But this is a first championship for second year head coach Jimmy Reilly, who was an assistant on the other five CACC titles for the Rams.

WHAT HAPPENED - WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The first half saw a close matchup between the two rival schools. Jefferson held onto a 13-9 lead after the first quarter. Morgan Robinson scored the first two baskets for the Rams, assisting next two baskets to Sam Yencha shot and Emma Kuczynski three pointer to have the game at 9-4. Avery White made a shot for Chestnut Hill and Caraline Herb three-pointer had the Griffins trail by four points after the first quarter.

Emily Keehfuss hit two three-pointers while Yencha and Robinson's layups put the Rams up by 10 early in the second quarter. Chestnut Hill drove back to a 12-6 run, getting within four points of Jefferson. Cassie Murphy and Emily Spratt knocked down the last two shots in the basket for the Rams, going into the break up 31-23. 

Jefferson went 14-27 in the first half, shooting 51.9% on the floor. The Rams made 3-7 three-point attempts with a 42.9% from beyond the arc. The Griffins were no slouches shooting, having a 45.5 field goal percentage with 10-of-22 shots going in the basket. From beyond the arc however, Chestnut Hill was 1-7. 

Caraline Herb made the first basket in the second half, making the game a five-point difference for Chestnut Hill. Jefferson went on a 16-4 run in the second half. The first portion was an 8-0 attack that featured two Kuczynski scores, a Meinel layup, and two made free throws by Murphy to put the Rams ahead 39-26. The second half was a 8-4 difference as Yencha joined Murphy and Kuczynski on the board, helping all three players get into double figures for the day. Jefferson went into the fourth quarter up 47-30. 

Each team had scores in the last quarter as Bridie McCann hit a three-pointer and Caleigh Edwards made a driving layup near the end, but the Rams' answered by six and four points by Murphy and Robinson respectively. Spratt finished the scoring for the day as the women's basketball team defeats Chestnut Hill 61-39 and secure their sixth program title in program history. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Sam Yencha: 12 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 16 rebounds 
Morgan Robinson: 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 2-2 FT, 6 rebounds, 5 assists 
Cassie Murphy: 12 points 5-of-9 shooting, 5 rebounds 
Emma Kuczynski: 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting (1-4 3PT), 2 rebounds 

30 WIN SEASON 
Jefferson is now 30-1 on the year. This is the first time in program history that the women's basketball team has reached the 30 win mark. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT 
Cassie Murphy, Sam Yencha, Morgan Robinson, and Haley Meinel were named to the CACC All-Tournament team. Meinel secured the Tournament MVP award.