Mahwah, N.J.— The John Jay men’s basketball team improved to 2-1 on the season as the Bloodhounds defeated Ramapo College, last season’s New Jersey Athletic Conference champions and this season’s preseason favorites, 80-75, at Ramapo’s Bradley Center on Tuesday evening.
The Bloodhounds were paced by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith) with 24 points. He shot 7-for-10 from the field, including a 3-for-6 clip from three point range to go along with seven rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic / William Taft) added 16 points and four assists for John Jay.
The Bloodhounds jumped out of the gate by scoring the first six points of the game. But Ramapo came racing back and both teams went nip and tuck for the next couple of minutes.
With Ramapo holding on to a 15-13 lead, the Bloodhounds went on a 19-6 run to take a 32-21 lead with 5:39 to play, capped by a jumper by Alex Valerio (Flushing, NY / Francis Lewis) who contributed with nine points and four rebounds.
John Jay led the rest of the way in the first half before settling for a 35-30 lead at halftime.
The host Roadrunners opened the second half on an 11-5 run to take a 41-40 lead with less than three minutes gone by.
Ramapo led by as much as four in the second half and led by that margin when it took a 49-45 lead with 14:22 to go. But John Jay went on a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead on a Mason jumper with 12:31 to go.
Both teams went back and forth over the next several minutes, before John Jay took the lead for good on a jumper by Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY / Franklin D. Roosevelt) with five minutes remaining breaking a 60-60 tie. The jumper ignited an 8-2 run which was capped by a three point field goal by Chris Jaeger (Hicksville, NY / Hicksville) who had six points on the evening.
John Jay led by as much as nine in the final minutes, and led 76-67 with 26 seconds remaining on a free throw by Mason before Ramapo made one more surge. The Roadrunners went on an 8-2 run to narrow the deficit to three (78-75) with three seconds remaining.
But a pair of clutch free throws by Gomez, who went 10-for-12 from the line, would seal the deal in the final seconds as John Jay goes to over .500 for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
“It was a team effort tonight,” said head coach Charles Jackson. “The guys played together and played hard and beat a great team.”
John Jay returns to action on Mon. Nov. 26 for its home opener against the USMMA at 6 p.m.
