Men's Hoops Leads Wire-To-Wire, Takes Down JWU, 78-62, Wednesday Night

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team got back in the win column, taking down Johnson & Wales University (JWU), 78-62, Wednesday night during Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays moved to 16-6 on the season and 10-1 in conference play, while the Wildcats moved to 4-16 overall and 2-9 in the GNAC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• USJ started the game red hot, opening up a 9-0 lead after a triple from junior forward Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) at the 17:26 mark.
• The two teams would then trade buckets until a 6-0 Blue Jays stretch, fuelled by four points from freshman forward Adelphe Cisse (Pointe-Noire, Congo), established a 19-7 USJ edge with 13:17 on the clock.
• USJ and JWU then continued to match each other basket-for-basket, until another 6-0 USJ run, featuring a senior guard Kevin Cummings (Portsmouth, N.H.) triple increased the lead to 26-17, with 2:19 left in the first half.
• Cummings would showcase his lethal three-point shooting to close the half, knocking down a buzzer-beating three to send the Blue Jays into the locker room with a 41-21 advantage.
• The start of the second half saw JWU start to gain momentum, until Cisse slammed down a thunderous one-handed dunk at the 16:13 mark, keeping a 19-point USJ lead, 46-27, with 16:13 left to play.
• USJ extended the lead further, as junior guard Lence Althenor (Everett, Mass.) and Cummings would continue the three-point barage, increased the gap to 62-39, at the 11:26 mark.
• JWU would answer with a 9-2 stretch, closing the deficit to 69-48, with 7:52 on the clock.
• The Wildcats continued to battle late, using another 6-2 run to cut the gap to 71-54, but Cisse put an end to the momentum, grabbing an Altenor lob before throwing down an ally-oop dunk, establihing a 73-54 lead for USJ.
• JWU would not be able to get erase the deficit as USJ secured the victory, 78-62.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Cummings paced the team with a game-high 25 points.
• Cisse joined him in scoring 20 or more points, dropping exactly 20 points.
• Cisse also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
• Freshman guard Jakarai Tertulien (Bridgeport, Conn.) dished out a team-best five assists.
• USJ won the battle of the boards, outrebounding JWU 40-27.
• The Blue Jays dominated inside, scoring 30 points from inside the paint.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays play their final regular season home game of the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday, February 15 against Elms College. The matchup against Elms will serve as Senior Day for USJ. Tipoff against the Blazers inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn., is set for 3:00 p.m.

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