PHILADELPHIA - The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (20-5, 16-2 CACC) outscored host Holy Family, 45-36, in the second half to win the regular season finale by a 68-59 score on Saturday.
 
The Rams claimed the CACC South Division regular season title and are the number one overall seed for next week's conference tournament. Jefferson hosts Nyack, the North Division's fourth seed, in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, March 1 at 6 p.m.
 
GAMEPLAY
After the Rams netted the first basket of the game, the Tigers recorded the next eight points for an 8-2 advantage. A three-pointer at the 14:20 mark upped the Holy Family lead to nine (13-4). Jefferson trailed by seven (18-11) before rallying for six points to get within one (18-17) with 8:05 on the clock. The Tigers got it back up to a four-point difference (23-19) before the Rams tallied the final four points of the period to even it up at 23 at the intermission.
 
The Rams started strong in the second half, scoring 10 of the first 12 points to go ahead by eight (33-25). Ahmed Barba-Bey had five of the 10 points. After a Holy Family triple, Jefferson strung together five more points to make it a 10-point cushion (38-28).
 
It was a nine-point margin (44-35) before the Tigers roared back with a 10-0 run to jump in front 45-44 with 8:36 to go. However, the Rams answered with a 14-4 surge to lead by nine (58-49) with 4:30 remaining. Four different players contributed to the stretch. Holy Family cut the deficit to seven (58-51) with 3:13 left but Jefferson followed with five straight points to lead by 12 (63-51) with 1:21 to play on the way to the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Deondre Bourne: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
- Bismark Nsiah: 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
- Ahmed Barba-Bey: 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
- Antonin Kemkeng: 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 26-of-56 (46.4%)
3PT: 7-of-23 (30.4%)
FT: 9-of-11 (81.8%)
 
NOTES
- After shooting just 34.5% in the first half, the Rams went off at a 59.3% clip in the second.
- Jefferson held Holy Family to just 34.5% from the field.
- The Rams outrebounded their opponent for the 11^th straight game, this time by a 42-31 count.