Worcester, MA – Stockton University (19-9) could overcome their lowest output of the season from the three-point line and fell 80-69 to Ithaca College (19-9) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. Freshman
Logan Mckee (Glen Mills, PA / Phelps School) led the Ospreys with his second double-double of the year with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Stockton fell behind early in the contest and was never able to recover. With the score tied at 3-3, the Bombers ran off the next seven points and never trailed the rest of the way. Ithaca took a 39-26 lead into the break on the strength of eight three pointers to just one for the Ospreys.
The second half was all Bombers as they stretched the advantage to as many as 22 points until settling for the 80-69 victory.
In support of Mckee,
EJ Matthews-Spratley (Cherry Hill/Cherry Hill East) and
Tayvon Gaither (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 14 points each with Gaither tallying 8 points in the first half. Senior
Christian Armstrong-Thomas (Marlton/Cherokee) tied Mckee with 10 boards, while fellow senior
Jamar Johnson (Penns Grove/Penns Grove) ended his career on a high note.
Johnson totaled season-highs of seven points and three steals, to go with eight rebounds and tied for game-high with four assists and zero turnovers in 27 minutes of play. Stockton had season lows of 13.0 % (3-23) from behind the arc with only 3 three pointers made in the game.
For Ithaca, Aidan Holmes led all scorers with 23 points. Teammates Evan Cabral and Logan Wendell tallied 20 points each, with Cabral grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds.
Stockton ends their season with their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and set a new school record for highest scoring average of 84.5 points per game set in 2021-22. The Osprey also broke the season marks for free throws made with 533 (2008-09) and total rebounds with 1,237, also set in the 2008-09 year.
Matthews-Spratley etched his name in the season record books by eclipsing the scoring mark with 22.9 points per game (Carl Cochran (22.4, 1995-96) and his 642 points ranks second to Cochran in a season.
