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Holy Family University Athletics

Holy Family University Athletics
Header Claw
MBKB - Eric Esposito
Stephen Pellegrino
83
Winner Holy Family HFam 10-18,7-12 CACC
81
Jefferson Jeff 25-3,18-1 CACC
Winner
Holy Family HFam
10-18,7-12 CACC
83
Final
81
Jefferson Jeff
25-3,18-1 CACC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Holy Family HFam 30 53 83
Jefferson Jeff 39 42 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Esposito Drains Buzzer Beater to Upset Nationally Ranked Rams



Philadelphia, Pa. – Sophomore Eric Esposito (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) made a running catch and shot the ball from the left wing off of a long inbounds pass to beat the final buzzer to give the Holy Family University men's basketball team an 83-81 victory over nationally ranked No. 7/8 Thomas Jefferson University in the final Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.  The loss marked the Rams first in conference play this season.
 
Score: Holy Family 83, Jefferson 81
Records: Holy Family (10-18, 7-12 CACC) | Jefferson (25-3, 18-1 CACC)
Location: Philadelphia, Pa. (Campus Center Gymnasium)
 
Game Recap
 
* Holy Family trailed by as many as 14 points early in the second half when the Rams held a 44-30 advantage at the 18:10 mark.  The Tigers began chipping away at the deficit and came within one point of the lead six minutes late after junior Brendan Hoban (Watertown, Mass./Millbrook) hit a jumper to make the score 52-51. 
 
* Jefferson quickly increased the one-point lead back up to a sizeable amount leading by nine points after a three-pointer by Deondre Bourne made the score 65-56 with 8:55 to play.
 
* As the half progressed, Holy Family finally came within one possession of tying the game when Hoban drained a three-pointer to make the score 79-77 with less than two minutes to play. After a defensive stop, Hoban knocked down yet another three on the Tigers' next possession to give them an 80-79 lead; the first since the 9:14 mark of the first half.
 
* On the following Jefferson possession, Kylan Guerra scored a layup basket to grab the lead away from the Tigers with 10 seconds left. A costly turnover by the Tigers on the ensuing possession forced Holy Family to foul.  However, Jefferson missed the first of a one-and-one and senior Branden Aughburns (Queens, N.Y./The Canterbury School (Hampton Univ.)) grabbed a key defensive board with the Tigers quickly calling a timeout.
 
* With only 0.4 seconds on the clock, freshman Jake McGonigle (Ocean City, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) launched a long pass to Esposito, who caught the ball in mid-air, and was able to get a shot off before the final buzzer to lift the Tigers to the incredible victory.
 
News and Notes
 
* Esposito scored a team-high 21 points, capped by his game-winning buzzer beater.  He also had five boards, two blocks and three steals.
 
* Aughburns finished with a double-double, his 11th of the season, as he totaled 19 points and 10 rebounds.
 
* Hoban came off the bench and supplied the Tigers with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including four three-pointers.
 
* The win marked the Tigers first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since the 2015-16 season when Holy Family defeated then No. 2 Southern Connecticut State University (W, 90-70) and No. 25 Jefferson (then Philadelphia University) (W, 61-54) in back-to-back games.
 
* Bourne scored a game-high 22 points for Jefferson.  DeVaughn Mallory recorded a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
All-Time Series
Today marked the 40th meeting between Holy Family and Jefferson since the start of the 1990-91 season.  The Tigers are now 7-33 all-time versus the Rams.  The win snapped the Rams seven-game winning streak in the series.
 
 
- HFU -
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