February 7, 2018 The Signal page 19
Sports Track and Field
Rider tramples College in Lawrenceville
McGourty places second in the high jump. By Malcolm Luck Sports Editor
Against tough Division I opponent Rider University, the men’s and women’s track and field teams could not prevail on Friday, Feb. 2.
Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk
The competition was fierce, with the men’s and women’s teams leaving Lawrenceville, New Jersey with final tallies of 111-37 and 10060, respectively. Rider was responsible for firstplace finishes in 30 of the 32 total
events. Each of the Lions’ two firstplace finishes came from the women’s side, where they took both first and second places in the mile run and 3000-meter events. Junior Danielle DeVito claimed first place in the mile run with a
time of 5:22.10. DeVito, who owns the top 3000-meter mark for the season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, displayed her versatility by earning the Lions five points with her first-place finish. Completing the race behind DeVito was junior Abigail Faith, clocking in at 5:26.37. Faith’s time was good for the fifth-best mile time recorded in the NJAC this season. In the 3000-meter event, junior Emma Bean raced to an impressive first-place performance, finishing the race in 11:02.39. Freshman MaryKate Bailey earned second place with her time of 11:20.25, finishing less than two seconds before the topplacing Rider competitor. Other notable performances from the women’s team came in a pair of record setting leaps by senior Meagan McGourty and freshman Tamika Voltaire in the high jump. Despite their respective second and fourth-place finishes, the women tied for the top high jump mark in the NJAC this season at 1.60 meters. The men’s side featured stellar performances with many second
and third-place finishes. In the 55-meter dash, senior Nicholas Genoese narrowly missed first place by .04 seconds, finishing in 6.63 against Rider freshman Marquis Smallwood. This mark sets his personal record for the season. Junior Nathan Osterhus captured third place in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 52.62 and earning the Lions two points. Sophomore Richard Gruters also contributed two points to the final score with his third-place finish in the 3000-meter event, clocking in at 9:09.97. Freshman Matthew Kole completed the race seconds later with his time of 9:11.41. In the field events, sophomore Tim Reilly led the Lions with a pair of strong performances. In the long jump event, Reilly earned third place and two points with his mark of 6.39 meters. In the triple jump, Reilly secured another third-place finish and two additional points with his 12.73-meter performance. After a disappointing weekend, the Lions look to bounce back at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday, Feb. 9.
Men’s Basketball
Men’s basketball rocked by Rowan and Ramapo By Alexander Reich Correspondent Despite a strong effort by the Lions, the men’s basketball team could not prevail in last week’s games. The Lions first dropped a home loss against Rowan University, 93-84, on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Later on Saturday, Feb. 3, the team endured a 64-60 loss to Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey. The game began with great offense from Rowan, taking an 8-2 lead only three minutes into the first half as the Lions struggled to put points on the board. Rowan continued scoring throughout the first half while also countering the College’s fast paced transition offense. With seven minutes left in the first half, Rowan kept heating up. The Lions couldn’t get momentum going, with Rowan blowing away their chances of recovering from the 28-18 deficit. Before going in to the half, sophomore guard Tommy Egan cut Rowan’s lead to 49-39 off a three-pointer. The College was only down by seven points. In the first half, the College was five for 19 from the three point line while Rowan went five for 11. The Lions had a total of 20 rebounds, but the effort didn’t help them in their offensive transition. When the second half started, sophomore guard Randall Walko came onto the court with determination. Walko scored eight points in the last four minutes of the game. Even though the Lions were sloppy at times, they never gave up their ability in transition. At the same time, senior guard Eric Murdock Jr. tried to maneuver his way through defenders to get the offense going. With 10 minutes left, Rowan was up, 68-60. The Lions then worked hard to cut their deficit to only one point at 76-75. Sophomore guard Niall Carpenter got fouled with three minutes to go and made both his free throws. As the clock ticked down to one minute, the Lions remained down, 86-84. Murdock was completely dominating
The Lions struggle to push through Rowan’s tough offense. the lane in the paint and got fouled once. With only seconds remaining, Rowan clinched their victory with a few buckets. The Lions ultimately lost, 93-88. Head Coach Matthew Goldsmith believes the team’s slow start was too much to overcome. “We came out slow and unfocused and sometimes the only thing that wakes you up is a big deficit,” Goldsmith said. “We responded once we were down 17, but it was too little, too late.” On the road, Ramapo College also proved to be another challenging conference opponent for the Lions. “Ramapo is always challenging and even more so when they are at home,” Goldsmith said. “They are physical and athletic. I think they wore us down with their depth throughout the game. Road games are always difficult in the NJAC and Saturday was another example of that.” With only three conference games remaining, the
Miguel Gonzalez / Sports Editor
Lions will make a late-season push for the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s top seed. The team is currently in third place and trail only behind New Jersey City University and Ramapo College. The team will play its last two home matches of the regular season this week. The Lions will compete against William Paterson University on Wednesday, Feb. 7, and Montclair State University on Saturday, Feb. 10. Despite a tough week, Goldsmith believes the Lions will finish the regular season strong. “This team has a great collective character,” Goldsmith said. “I fully expect them to bounce back and be ready for our next three opponents. The only thing we can do is focus on improving today. If we can get better each day and take advantage of each practice and each game, we will be ready to perform on the court.”