Men's Basketball Unable to Get Shot Down in Tight Contest Against Felician

PHILADELPHIA – After the Golden Falcons hit their three-pointer with eight seconds to go, the Rams drove down and took a last second shot from beyond the arc but were unable to make it in the basket as the Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (8-6, 2-2) dropped their first home contest of the season to Felician University (9-5, 2-2) 72-71 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) action on Saturday afternoon. 

WHAT HAPPENED 

• Jefferson held the advantage in the first half, outscoring Felician 36-33. The game was back-and-forth with multiple lead changes by both squads 

• Jeremiah Dorsey and Sean Fullerton connected on three-pointers back-to-back from one another to make it a 11-8 advantage for the Rams, but Abdul Shanunu tied it with his shot from beyond the arc 

• Felician had the largest first half lead with five points, 24-19, that was slowly cut down off a Farouk Kaba dunk, Justin Hawkins layup, and Isaiah Thomas-McClain three to even it at 26-26 

• Fullerton and Thomas-McClain hit another shot from beyond the arc while two Kaba layups put the Rams ahead in the break. Jefferson held a better shooting percentage (48.39%) over the Golden Falcons (44.44%), but going 7-9 at the charity stripe is what made Felician only trail by three going to the second half 

• The Golden Falcons produced in the second half, scoring 39 points while the Rams had 35 in the last 20 minutes. Jefferson had the better shooting percentage once more (48.00% to 37.04%), but Felician went a perfect 15-15 at the free throw line while the Rams made 4-9 at the charity stripe 

• The name of the game was trading leads, which continued in the second half. Fullerton, Dorsey, Hawkins, and Thomas-McClain continued to hit shots from beyond the arc to keep the Rams in the game.  

• Felician was not backing down either, consistently getting their layups in and making free throws to change the tide for them 

• After a Hawkins layup and Fullerton three to make it 68-65 with 2:37 to go, the Golden Falcons earned fouls and went 4-4 at the line with Shanunu and Marcus Pierce to retake the lead 69-68, leaving 1:03 left on the clock 

• Hawkins made a layup for the lead with 40 ticks to go. After a miss layup by Felician, Jefferson went to put the game on ice with Kaba at the free throw line. He missed the first one but made his second attempt to have it 71-69 with 17 seconds on the clock 

• Shanunu made a three pointer to give the Golden Falcons the lead with 8 on the clock. Jefferson drove down the court and sent one more shot up, but it did not go in the basket as it left the Rams heartbroken with a 72-71 defeat 

• Jefferson saw all five of their starters get into double digits, with Fullerton making six three pointers in the contest while Dorsey and Thomas-McClain hit three apiece 

TEAM STATS 
FG: 28-of-56 (48.2%) 
3PT: 13-of-26 (50%) 
FT: 4-of-9 (44.4%) 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Sean Fullerton: 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting (6-8 3PT), 4 rebounds 
Justin Hawkins: 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting (1-6 3PT), 7 assists, 6 rebounds 
Farouk Kaba: 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists 
Jeremiah Dorsey: 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting (3-5 3PT), 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds 
Isaiah Thomas-McClain: 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting (3-5 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson looks to get out of their three game skid as they travel to Delaware to take on Wilmington University in CACC South action on Tuesday, January 14 at 8 p.m.