Pemberton, NJ-- The RVCC men's basketball team opened their spring semester with a win over Rowan College at Burlington County by a final score of 75-74. The game was back and forth the entire 40 minutes, as there were 14 ties and 14 lead changes, and no team saw a lead larger than eight points. After a competitive first half, the Lions found themselves down 36-34.

With under four minutes remaining, the Lions were trailing 70-66 when sophomore forward Jayce Beasley hit a three to cut the Burlington lead to 70-69. After Burlington hit one free throw, the next RVCC possession Beasley missed a three, but sophomore forward Jawan Robinson grabbed an offensive rebound and muscled it back up to tie the score at 71-71. With a minute and a half remaining, Burlington hit a layup and a free throw to make it 74-73. On the other end Beasley was fouled on a layup attempt, and hit one out of two to make it 74-74. The Lions got the stop they needed, and called timeout to draw up one final play. Freshman guard Kevin Saylor was fouled on a strong take to the basket and hit one out of two free throws. Burlington had a chance to win the game, yet Robinson blocked the last second three pointer to seal the victory.

Leading the scoring for the Lions was Beasley with 18 points. Sophomore guard Zaire Robinson had 16 points, and added eight rebounds and six assists. Freshman forward Ron Washington scored 16 points on 8-10 shooting, and sophomore forward Sam Pierre added eight points and nine rebounds.

With the win the Lions improve to 9-5 and 5-3 in Region XIX play. Next up is an away game against Mercer County Community College on Tuesday, January 24th at 7pm.