The Basics

• Final Score: Rosemont 81, Centenary 72
• Records: Rosemont 13-13, Centenary 14-12
• The Ravens trailed by five points at the half, but outscored the Cyclones 49-35 in the second half.
• Rosemont will advance to the semifinal round of the tournament at Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday night.
• The win was the first home postseason win in the playoffs by a Rosemont basketball team.
• Location: Rosemont, Pa. – Alumnae Hall

How It Happened

• In a game reminiscent of the last game played between these two sides on Saturday afternoon, neither team could shake each other in the first half. The Cyclones grabbed a 14-7 lead eight minutes in, but the Ravens responded with a 9-0 run to take a 16-14 lead with 8 ½ minutes remaining in the half. Both  teams would work hard to try to get separation, but neither team could get greater than a five-point advantage for the rest of the half. A layup with 0:09 on the clock by Centenary ended the scoring with Rosemont trailing 37-32. The half featured six tie scores and five lead changes.
• Trailing by six early in the half, the Ravens re-tied the game, 39-39 with 16:55 on the clock. As in the first half, the teams would work to gain an advantage, but with 12 ½ minutes remaining in the game the scores were tied for the 12^th time, 52-52. Clayton Wolfe sank a free throw to complete a three-point play to put the Ravens up 53-52. The lead didn't last long as Centenary answered with a couple of layups to retake the lead 56-53 with 11:15 on the clock. Still trailing by three points with nine minutes left, the Ravens re-grabbed the lead after a Mekhi Clemons layup and a jumper by Marcus Thomas with just under eight minutes left.
• The teams would remain within two points of each other until the clock reached 2:46. At that point, Rosemont extended its 1-point lead after a jumper by Thomas and a key shot from downtown by Wolfe pulled the Ravens ahead by six, 69-63 with 2:19. Still a lot of time to kill. Rosemont forced a turnover, putting Wolfe on the line, and he sank both free throws to give the Ravens their largest lead of the game to that point, 71-63 with 1:30 on the clock. Another stop by the Ravens and two more successful shots from the charity stripe by Clayton Wolfe gave the Ravens a 10-point edge, 73-63 with 1:11 remaining.
• Leading by 11 with 0:48 on the clock, Centenary's Anthony Bailey converted on a three-pointer, followed immediately by a steal and layup on the inbound pass from Rashaan Spencer to score five points in 13 seconds, bringing the visitors back to within six points, 76-70 with 48 seconds remaining. The Ravens salted away the game on the foul line down the stretch, making five free throws against one Cyclones layup to end the scoring for the night, and the Ravens holding on to a hard-earned nine-point victory.

Coach Hughes Comments

"I really want to stress two points. First, nothing was pretty tonight, but we really fought hard in the last 15 minutes of tonight's game. The individual effort of CJ Wolfe, not only in his scoring, but with his eight steals, changed the complexion of the game, leading us to score easy baskets."

"We are excited to have the opportunity to play in the semifinals round against a very talented Gwynedd Mercy team on Wednesday."

Ravens' Top Performers

• Clayton Wolfe had excellent timing to score his career-best 25 points. He hit on 6-for-10 from the field, (2-for-4 from downtown) and a big 11-for 13 from the free throw line in addition to grabbing six rebounds. Wolfe grabbed eight steals to get the offense going for the Ravens.
• Marcus Thomas, stymied a bit in the first half, broke out and took control in the second half, ending up with 21 points. He, too, shot 11-for-13 from the foul line, and ended up shooting 4-for-8 from the field in the second half.
• Khai Roberts had a good night also, scoring 13 with six boards.

For the Cyclones

• Rashaan Spencer led Centenary, hitting on 9-of-20 from the field, including 5-for-13 from deep for 23 points.
• The only other Centenary player to reach double-digits was Myles McLeod, with 11 points.
• Hanif Holloway reeled in eight rebounds to lead the Cyclones in that category.

Stats of the Game

• The Ravens won the game, ultimately, at the foul line. The Cyclones actually had seven more field goal attempts, making 29 compared to Rosemont's 23, but Rosemont hit 27-for-34 from the foul line vs. 6-for-9 for the Cyclones.
• The difference in free throw shooting was due to the number of fouls whistled on Centenary; a total of 28 fouls compared to only 12 for the Ravens.
• Centenary turned the ball over six more times than Rosemont (23 vs. 17)
• Rosemont had 13 steals in the game vs. eight for the Cyclones.

Up Next

The #4 seeded Ravens will travel to #1 seeded Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday, 2/24 for a CSAC semifinal game. The game is scheduled for an 8:00pm start.