UNION, N.J. (11/9/19) – Four starters scored in double figures as the Kean University men's basketball team dropped its season opener to Neumann University, 89-75 on Saturday evening.

Nasir Cassel finished with 30 points and eight rebounds for the Knights who improve to 1-0 overall. Jailen Jamison totaled 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Cougars who fall to 0-1 overall.

Kean opened with an 8-3 run to take their largest lead of the game at 16-10 on back-to-back three pointers from Jared Latane.  Neumann closed the opening stanza on a 26-12 run to take a 44-33 lead into halftime.

Jamison opened the second half with seven points during an 11-5 run to cut the Knights advantage to 47-44 with 16:29 remaining. Neumann answered with a 16-7 run to take their largest lead of the game at 63-49 with just under 12 minutes to play. Kean responded with a 15-4 run over the next 5:04 to cut the Knights lead to 65-64 with 6:42 remaining and force Neumann to call a timeout. During the run Shamar Florence and Jamison combined for nine of the Cougars 15 points.

Despite the strong effort, Neumann sealed the game with a 24-14 run over the final 6:11 of the contest.

Mario Gunn finished with 17 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Nate Lyles totaled 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Jeff Cooper tallied 11 points in just his third career start, while Latane added 11 points off the bench.

Head Coach Adam Hutchinson and the Cougars will return to action in Chester, Pa. on Friday, Nov. 15^th against the Greyhounds of Moravian College in the Widener Tip-Off at 6:00 p.m.