ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University men's basketball team celebrated senior night with an 85-80 win over Cabrini University in Atlantic East Conference action on Wednesday evening.
Prior to tip-off, the Knights honored their senior class, who played in their final regular season home game tonight:
Ishmael Marshall,
Ryan Starr,
Kyson Rawls,
Tony James and
Justin Smith.
Starr finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists. James grabbed 12 rebounds while netting six points and handing out four assists. Smith added eight points and seven boards.
Jalen Vaughns led all scorers with 27 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double.
TJ Lewis added 12 points.
The game was close throughout and featured 11 tied scores and 22 lead changes. Tied at 29 with 6:26 left in the first half, the Knights netted four straight points. The Cavaliers answered with three straight three-pointers and a jumper for a 40-33 lead, the largest of the half. Neumann then scored eight straight points to take back the lead, 41-40, in the final minute of the half. Cabrini scored the final basket of the half to take a 42-41 edge into the break.
After trading baskets to start the second half, the Cavaliers went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-45 lead three minutes into the half. Four points by Vaughns and a three-pointer by Lewis put the Knights back in the lead, 52-51, to continue the back-and-forth game.
Tied at 66 with 6:47 on the clock, Lewis hit another three-pointer for a 69-66 edge. That basket started an 11-2 run for the Knights and a 77-68 Neumann lead with 3:43 left in regulation. In the final two minutes of the game, the Knights had an 81-70 lead. The Cavaliers were not going away quietly and scored the next 10 points to pull within one, 81-80, with 42 seconds on the clock.
Lewis went 1-for-2 from the line for a two-point advantage with 40 ticks remaining.
Kyle Thompson followed with two free throws to extend the lead to four. Thompson sealed the win with another free throw in the final seconds.
Neumann (18-6, 8-3 Atlantic East) will wrap up the regular season on Saturday at Centenary. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
