Men's Basketball Falls Short of Comeback Against Dominican

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. -  With four players scoring in double digits and a Sean Fullerton basket to have the Rams trail by two with 42 seconds to go, the Chargers responded with a basket and free that ultimately led to Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball (8-5, 2-1) falling in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) unbeaten action to Dominican University of New York (7-5, 3-0) in Saturday afternoon competition. 

WHAT HAPPENED 

• Jefferson had control in the first half as they outscored Dominican 37-30. 10 of those points came off the free throw line, with Ashton Miller being 3-4 while Justin Hawkins, Isaiah Thomas-McClain, and Farouk Kaba being 2-2 on the charity stripe 

• Fullerton added two three pointers in the first half while Jeremiah Dorsey connected on one during the first 20 minutes 

• Hawkins, Fullerton, and Troy McGregor led the charge with six points apiece while Miller had five. Kaba put up four points while Thomas-McClain made his free throws and Cosby Napoleon converted his basket attempt 

• Rams held control in the first half, going on a 7-0 run to begin the half. Jefferson went as high as an 14-point lead. The Chargers slowly came back, getting within five points with 1:08 in the first half. After two free throws for Jefferson, the Rams went into the break up 37-30 

• The second half saw Dominican comeback as they outscored Jefferson 47-35. Hawkins produced 10 points in the second while Fullerton and Miller added eight and seven points respectively. McGregor put up four points during the second half. Dorsey and Thomas-McClain ended with three points each 

• Miller added a three pointer to make it 49-35 in favor of the Rams, but the Chargers went on a 22-7 point run that got them ahead of Jefferson 57-56 with 7:55 to go after Emmanuel Smith made his basket 

• Fullerton delivered a three to retake the lead along with a Dorsey jumper, but the Chargers added nine points to go ahead 68-61 

• An and-one by Hawkins and Dorsey made Jefferson trail by one point. Dominican added two three pointers by Jaden Honis and Isaiah Honis. Hawkins three and Fullerton basket made the game 74-72 with 42 seconds to go 

• Dominican converted on a basket with 14 seconds and added a free throw to end the Rams comeback as Jefferson fell 77-72 

TEAM STATS 
FG: 25-of-60 (41.7%) 
3PT: 7-of-22 (31.8$) 
FT: 15-of-17 (88.2%) 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Justin Hawkins: 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting (1-3 3PT), 3-3 FT, 7 rebounds 
Sean Fullerton: 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting (3-4 3PT), 1-2 FT, 2 rebounds, 2 assists 
Ashton Miller: 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting (1-4 3PT), 5-6 FT, 10 rebounds, 3 assists 
Farouk Kaba: 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson will look to get back in the win column as they face off against CACC opponent Felician University on Saturday, January 11 at 4 p.m.