PHILADELPHIA – Despite three starters fouling out, the Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (18-11) scored the first six points of overtime and survived a potential game-winning shot from Bloomfield (17-11) that went in-and-out at the buzzer for an 80-79 win over the Bears in the CACC semifinals on Saturday night.
The Rams advance to the conference title game on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. where they will square off against Caldwell in a matchup of the tournament's top two seeds. The Cougars downed Chestnut Hill, 67-65, in the other semifinal contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams went back and forth to start the contest and were tied at nine with 12:35 on the clock. Jefferson then went on a 13-4 run to go ahead by nine (22-13) with 7:52 to go. Bloomfield scored the next six points to get within three (22-19) but the Rams answered with 11 of the next 15 to up the margin to 10 (33-23) with 1:08 left.
Erik Timko led the way with seven points. The Bears closed the gap to seven (33-26) heading into halftime.
Bloomfield came out strong to begin the second half, putting together a 10-1 surge to go in front 36-34. Jefferson came back with eight in a row to regain the advantage, 42-36. The Bears had eight of the next 10 and the score was even at 44 with 12:23 remaining. The Rams went on a 10-2 run to open an eight-point lead (54-46) at the 9:05 mark.
Bismark Nsiah sparked the run with five points.
The difference was still at eight (56-48) when Bloomfield rallied with nine straight points to go ahead by one (57-56) with 5:00 on the clock. Jefferson totaled four in a row for a three-point edge (60-57) with 3:45 to play.
The Rams nursed a one-point lead (62-61) with under a minute to go. Nsiah came up with a block on a Bears' attempt at the 48-second mark before both teams missed a scoring chance. Jefferson was sent to the line and made one shot for a 63-61 advantage with 11 seconds left. Bloomfield came down the floor and converted a game-tying layup while also drawing a foul. However, the Bears missed the and-one and the contest went to overtime.
Darius Kinnel got the Rams going in the extra session with a jumper. Nsiah posted another rejection and slammed home a dunk before Kinnel added another layup to give Jefferson a 69-63 advantage just over a minute in. Bloomfield posted the next four points to get within two. The margin was still two when
Jason Shields sank a three to up the Rams' lead to five (74-69) with 2:28 left.
Byrd added a free throw at the 1:53 mark to make it a six-point game (75-69). The Bears came back with eight of the next 11 to cut the deficit to one (78-77) with 29 seconds remaining. Shields was successful on a pair of free throws and the difference was three (80-77). Bloomfield made a layup then committed a foul to put Jefferson at the line with six seconds to play. The Rams missed both shots and the Bears came down the floor with a chance to win it but a three-point attempt from the right wing clanged off the inside of the rim and bounced out, giving Jefferson the narrowest of victories.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Erik Timko: 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting (4-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Bismark Nsiah: 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Antonin Kemkeng: 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist
Hakim Byrd: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Darius Kinnel: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 30-of-64 (46.9%)
3PT: 7-of-23 (30.4%)
FT: 13-of-21 (61.9%)
NOTES
- The Rams advanced to the CACC final for the ninth time in program history and first since 2020. Jefferson is 5-3 in the conference title game.
