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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Richard Stockton certainly has guys who can score, but the same players also showed their skills on defense Tuesday night.

The Ospreys (4-1) smothered Widener University (Pa.) in the second half. They blocked shots and forced turnovers, which turned into a 72-53 win at the Stockton Athletic Center.

"Coach talked to us at halftime on how we could execute better on defense," said Stockton junior Michael Farrow, a Middle Township High School graduate who had a game-high 18 points. "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. That's one thing we learned over the last couple of years."

Widener is not a pushover. The Pride made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season and received votes in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, where Stockton is currently ranked fifth.

However, the Ospreys' execution in the second half was too much for the Pride to handle.

Stockton forced 13 of Widener's 18 turnovers in the second half and turned a 27-26 halftime lead into a rout.

"This just goes to show you never know what's going to happen," Stockton coach Gerry Matthews said. "I didn't know they were going to come out like that at halftime. Fortunately, I was surprised."

Farrow finished Widener (4-1) off with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left in the game. He put back a rebound with a dunk, which got the crowd jumping to make it 67-47.

Sophomore DiAndre Brown followed that with a tip-in, putting away the Pride. Brown finished with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

"We had more energy in the second half," said Brown, who transferred from Eastern Nazarene (Mass.) "We just started off slower than we should have. But we knew we could pick that up."

Stockton's surge started from the moment the second half opened. Farrow hit a 3-pointer and with 17 minutes, 13 seconds left, senior Omar Smith (12 points, nine rebounds) hit back-to-back jumpers to make it 37-29.

One thing the Ospreys learned quickly this season was they couldn't allow teams to stay close.

In the first game of the year, the Ospreys lost on a buzzer beater 68-67 to Baruch. On Friday, they nearly lost the same way to Western Connecticut, but pulled out an 88-86 win.

Stockton is set on not letting that type of situation happen again.

"That first practice after that game, we knew we had to pick it up," Brown said. "We know when we play our 'A' game we are the best team out there. At halftime, when it was a one-point lead, we knew (we could play better than) that. So we just picked it up."

Contact Susan Lulgjuraj:

609-272-7187

slulgjuraj@pressofac.com

Widener 26 27 - 53

Richard Stockton 27 45 - 72

W-Smith 1 2-2 4, Johnson 4 1-1 9, McDevitt 3 1-3 8, Edmunds 1 0-1 2, Brennan 2 0-0 5, Wright 3 0-0 6, Atkins 3 0-2 6, Nelson 3 0-0 6, Stewart 0 1-4 1, Williams 3 0-0 6. Totals-23 5-13 53.

RS-Smith 5 2-2 12, Farrow 6 4-6 18, Brown 5 1-2 11, Lancioni 1 6-8 9, Massaquoi 2 6-7 10, Kelly 2 0-0 6, Haddix 2 2-2 6. Totals-23 21-27 72.

3-pointers-McDevitt, Brennan W, Farrow (2), Lancioni, Kelly (2) RS.

Records-Widener 3-1, Richard Stockton 4-1.

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