Box Score
ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University men's basketball team opened the season in style, beating non conference foe Richard Stockton College 59-51 Tuesday night.
The Knights jumped out to a 7-6 lead in the first three minutes. Mark Blount (so. Philadelphia, Pa. / William Penn) started the scoring to give the Knights their first two points, followed by a three pointer from Mike Walukiewicz (sr. Elmer, N.J. / Cumberland Regional). The Osprey answered with two three pointers to take a 6-5 lead, but it was Terrance Clark's (sr. Middletown, Del. / Middletown) two pointer that concluded the scoring for a good five minutes. Blount redirected the Oprey flight status outside the lane for safe landing. If there were bugs on the court, Blount would be swatting flies. He had five blocks on the Knight, but altered dozens of shots.
The Knights went on a nine point run with a 17-8 lead with 6:37 remaining in the first half. The Osprey would knot it at 17-17 and the first half would end 23-23.
The second half started out exchanging points, as Patrick O'Connor (sr. Wilmington, Del. / St. Elizabeth) slashed his way through traffic for seven points within the first five minutes into the second half. Blount then riddled off six points ending with a dunk that sent the packed crowd in a frenzy.
Deadlocked at 39-39, the Knights needed some juice and the crowd should have sung New York New York, as Rich Whitten (so. Yonkers, N.Y. / Archbishop Stepinac) would give the Knights breathing room scoring on two layups and hitting a jumper, while being a nuisance on defense for the Opsrey. With five minutes remaining in the game Reggie Coleman (so. Trenton, N.J. / Trenton Catholic) followed by a Dom Gibson (so. Dover, Del. / Caesar Rodney) jumper proved to be enough to hold off the Osprey. O'Conner zinged in a three pointer to the crowds delight to seal the season opener.
The Knights had to deal with the Osprey's full court press all game long, but only became problematic on two possessions. The guards Clark, Gibson, Steve Warhola (so. Langhorne, Pa. / Neshaminy) and Reggie Coleman all shared the responsibilities in coping with the full court press. Mark Blount led the Knights with 15 points, five blocks and five rebounds. O'Connor contributed 13 points and four steals. Whitten was spot shifted giving the Knights 10 points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of play.
"It's always great to get the first win at home, the crowd was unbelievable," said Coach Stanziano. "We did a great job getting defensive stops and protecting the rim in the final three minutes."
The Knights are back in action this Friday November 18th against Franklin & Marshall College for a 8 p.m. tip off at the F&M tournament.
