ASTON, Pa. – The Rosemont College men's basketball team lost their opening conference game tonight at Neumann University by a final score of 49-46. Rosemont is 2-3 (0-1 CSAC) while the Knights are 3-2 (1-0 CSAC).
Both teams struggled to score early in the game. The Ravens' Dom Scafidi made a layup to account for Rosemont's first points after 5 ½ minutes were played, but despite the slow start for the offense the Ravens only trailed 4-2 at that point. The Ravens went through another scoring drought of more than seven minutes when Scafidi hit for a trey to account for their 5th point. Although the Ravens made only two field goals in over 12 ½ minutes, they were still relatively close to the Knights, trailing 12-5 with 7 ½ minutes left in the half.
Neumann would go on a 7-0 run over the next 1 ½ minutes to take a 14-point lead, 19-5 with six minutes remaining in the first. The Ravens responded with a six-point run of their own, and would outscore the Knights 11-2 to peg themselves back into the game, trailing 21-15 with 3 minutes left. Neumann would extend their lead to 26-18 going into the break.
Rosemont came out with momentum to start the second, scoring the first seven points, punctuated by a three-ball from Khai Roberts to get the Ravens to within one point at 26-25. The teams would trade buckets for the next few minutes as Neumann kept a tight leash on the lead until Clayton Wolfe hit a shot from beyond the arc with 9:25 on the clock to knot the score, 36-36. Neumann would up their lead to seven points, 47-40 with 1:19 left, but the Ravens still refused to cede the game.
Another trey and two free throws from Wolfe would get Rosemont back to within 2 points, 47-45 with 1:03 left. A couple of Neumann free throws opened the gap back up to four points with seconds left on the clock and the Ravens couldn't finish their comeback bid, although they got off a couple of three-point attempts in the final six seconds.
Khai Roberts and Kyle Lafferty each scored 9 points to lead the Ravens. Clayton Wolfe chipped in with 8 points. Dom Scafidi was again strong in the paint, grabbing 8 rebounds to lead both teams. The Ravens forced the Knights into turning the ball over 19 times compared to 12 turnovers for Rosemont.
The Ravens will prepare for their next game; a non-conference match-up against Rowan University on Saturday, 11/29 at 12pm. The game will be played at Cabrini College as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer fundraising event.
