READING, Pa. – A solid second-half start paired with outstanding shooting helped The College of New Jersey Lions to an 87-70 victory against Kenyon College on Friday afternoon at the Bollman Center. The non-conference affair was a part of host Albright College's Crown Plaza Holiday Tournament.
 
After scoring 36 points in the first half, the Lions came back in the second and tallied 51 while shooting at least 63 percent from both the three-point line and field.
 
Matt Shifrin led five Lords players in double-figure scoring with 15 while Will Sigl came off the bench to add 14 on a perfect shooting day (7-for-7). Senior Phillip Crampton added 13 points while Ryan O'Neil and Ben Stern each contributed 10.
 
In their first game since December 19, it was the Lords who got off on the right foot.
 
Not even three minutes into the contest, a three-ball from O'Neil moved Kenyon to an 11-5 lead. TCNJ later responded and tied the game at 13 following Niall Carpenter's layup at 14:57 before the Lords hit another stretch.
 
Three-pointers from Stern and Alexander Powell along with a Shifrin free throw pushed Kenyon ahead 20-13 with about 13 minutes left in the half.
 
Kenyon maintained its lead over the next six minutes before the Lions tied it up. With 8:11 on the clock, Randy Walko scored tying the game at 25. Over each team's next four possessions, the score wound up tied.
 
By the end of the half, the Lions led 36-35.
 
Like the Lords in the first, the Lions found a hot second-half start to go up 15 points. The College of New Jersey hit all but one of its seven attempts within the half's first 4:09. A layup from Jordan Glover at 15:51 had TCNJ up 50-35.
 
Down big, Kenyon mounted a nice run to get back in the game. Sigl scored a pair of buckets as did Stern and the Lords got the game to 50-47 with 12:27 left.
 
A few minutes later, Shifrin's and-one conversion brought the tally to 62-56. That, however, would be the closest the Lords got the rest of the way.
 
The Lords will try to snap their four-game losing streak tomorrow when they play either Albright or Penn State Harrisburg.