ROSEMONT – The Rosemont men's basketball team earned a historic win against neighboring CSAC-rival Cabrini College Cavaliers this afternoon, rallying back from a 12-point deficit midway through the second half to stun Cabrini for a final score of 85-78. The win was the program's first against Cabrini and Rosemont's second straight win against a strong CSAC opponent. The win evened the Ravens' CSAC record at 2-2 (4-7 overall) while the Cavaliers fell to 5-5 (2-1 CSAC).
Cabrini got off to a fast start in the game, opening up a quick 7-1 lead with barely two minutes played. The Cavs would extend their lead to 11, 20-9 with 13:12 left in the first and would hold that edge, 23-12 with 11:43 left in the period. The Ravens showed that they would not be left behind, as they rallied over the next 5 ½ minutes to outscore Cabrini 12-2 to get back to within one point, 25-24 with 6:21 left. The Cavs would hold onto their lead until a layup by Kyle Lafferty with 2:17 left in the half gave Rosemont their first lead of the game, 35-34. Cabrini would grab back the lead at the half, 38-37.
The Ravens came out with passion to start the second half. Baskets by Nadir Stukes, Kyle Lafferty and a trey from Khai Roberts gave Rosemont their largest lead of the contest at that point, 45-41 with 17:43 on the clock. But over the next 7 ½ minutes Cabrini would outscore Rosemont with a 22-6 advantage to hold a 12-point edge, 63-51 with 10:21 left. The Ravens answered with a 12-1 streak of their own to creep back within a point of the lead, trailing 64-63 with 7:30 left.
Over the next couple of minutes the Cavaliers maintained their lead, holding the Ravens back from taking the lead. With Rosemont trailing 69-68, a key three-ball from Marcus Thomas would wrench back a two-point lead for the Ravens, 71-69 with 4:38 left. The teams were again tied at 73 with just less than four minutes remaining when the Ravens put together a 5-0 run to lead 78-73 with 1:13 left.
A Vinny Walls layup would get Cabrini back to within three points, but the Ravens answered the challenge at the foul line down the stretch. Key free throws by Stukes, Thomas, Dom Scafidi and Clayton Wolfe on one end of the floor, partnered with solid Rosemont defense on the other side of the floor enabled the Ravens to hold on to the lead and grab the win.
Statistically, the Ravens won this game from the charity stripe, converting on 24 of 39 free throws compared to Cabrini's 12 for 20.
Nadir Stukes came up big for the Ravens, leading Rosemont in scoring with a career-high 19 points. Kyle Lafferty scored 17 as did his teammate Marcus Thomas.
Jair Green scored 20 to lead both teams. Green also had 10 boards for a double-double. Tyheim Monroe (19 points, 14 rebounds) also had a dub-dub for the Cavs. Aaron Walton-Moss, entering the game averaging almost 21 points/contest, was held to only six points by the Raven's defense. Walton-Moss was a factor on the boards, however, grabbing 16 rebounds to lead both teams. Howard Blake III (14) and Vinny Walls (13) also hit double-digits for Cabrini.
The Ravens next play on Wednesday, 1/7 when they travel to Marywood for a CSAC game in Scranton. Game time is scheduled for an 8:00pm start.
