Atlantic City, NJ – Stockton University (5-3, 4-2 NJAC) took on Kean University (1-10, 0-6 NJAC) at famed Boardwalk Hall and came away with an 76-72 win on Friday night. Tariq Baker (Brooklyn, NY/St. Anthony's) scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Ospreys.
 
Kean started strong, hitting their first four shots from behind the arc to take a 12-0 lead. The Ospreys answered with 12-point run of their own to knot the game at 12-12. Stockton took their first lead of the game at 15-14 on a three-pointer by Kadian Dawkins (Easthampton/Rancocas Valley) with 8:39 left in the first half.
 
The Ospreys stretched the margin to 26-21 after the Cougars had knotted the game again at 19-19. A three-point play by Baker and a steal and slam by Brandon Hamilton (Camden/Paulsboro) put Stockton in front.
 
Kean then used an 11-4 run in the last 3:55 of the half to forge a 32-30 lead at the break. Kyion Flanders (Wildwood/Wildwood) scored 10 points for Stockton to offset 14 markers by Jared Latane for Kean in the half.
 
The teams fought hard on the defensive end through the first part of the second stanza before consecutive three-pointers by Keenan Williams Jr. (Paulsboro/Paulsboro) and Baker gave Stockton a 45-39 advantage.
 
A basket and foul shot by Jordan Taylor (East Orange/Cicely Tyson) offset a pair of free throws by Kean for a 48-41 lead as Stockton started to heat up. Stockton kept the pressure on, drawing fouls and converting the free shots to extend the margin.
 
The Ospreys took a commanding 66-52 lead with 7:27 left in regulation. The visitors made one last attempt at victory, using a 13-3 run to cut the lead to 71-69 with 46 seconds remaining, forcing Stockton into a timeout.
 
A Dawkins layup, a Flanders steal and foul shot made it 74-69, but the Cougars would not give up. A shot from behind the arc by Nate Lyles with 10.2 seconds left made it 74-72. Taylor then made two from the charity stripe with 5.8 seconds left to clinch the 76-72 victory.
 
In addition to Baker's high game, Flanders added 15 markers and four assists while Taylor finished with 10 markers. Dawkins led the Ospreys with five helpers and Steve Ferebee (Galloway/Absegami) pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
 
Kean was led by Latane with a game-high 26 points, with teammate Jailen Jameson grabbing six rebounds to tie Lyles and dishing a game-high eight assists.

Stockton will have six days off before the Ospreys will play in the Comfort Inn Juniata Holiday Tournament on December 20-21.