By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher It may never be Kentucky vs. Louisville, but each year the rivalry between South Jersey Division III basketball programs Stockton and Rowan seems to be gaining some steam. Back in December, the Stockton men picked up an 88-71 win over Rowan, while on the women’s side Rowan outlasted the Ospreys 97-89 in overtime. The teams hooked up again on Jan. 20 in Galloway and Stockton swept the double-header. More than 1,000 fans came out to the two games combined, including nearly 400 for the women’s game. Stockton students dubbed the game a “blackout” and wore black Ospreys T-shirts, and the pep band and cheerleaders were on hand for both games. As far as Division III basketball goes, it was one of the most lively atmospheres either of the schools will enjoy this year. The rivalry between the women’s teams has really begun to heat up. Two seasons ago, Rowan was just 5-20 and got swept by Stockton. Last year, however, the Profs began to close the gap. They scored a road win in Galloway and finished the year 17-9. Then came the start of this year and the overtime win over the Ospreys, who came out fired up for the January home game and ran away with an 85-53 victory to pull to within a game of Rowan for first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. 
Rowan’s Val Garofalo, a Holy Spirit High School graduate, puts up a shot against the Stockton defense during a game in late January. The rivalry double-header featuring the women’s game followed by the men’s game drew a crowd of more than 1,000. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “Since we are so much better now, it’s such a great game. You can’t get much better than that,” said Rowan sophomore and former Mainland Regional standout Alex Raring. “We knew that was going to be a big game. We heard that they were having a blackout, so we knew there were going to be a lot of people there. It was fun. I had a whole bunch of my friends and family there.” Taylor Christina, a Delsea Regional graduate and guard at Stockton, said the Ospreys really fed off the home crowd during that win. “It’s pretty cool. It’s always exciting when we play them, whether it’s at Rowan or at Stockton. We usually have a good amount of people at both games and that makes it more exciting,” said Christina, who nailed seven 3-pointers against Rowan and finished with a career-high 23 points. “A lot more people came out (against Rowan) and I think that’s what we are trying to build on to get more people to come out to the games. It’s fun to play here when there is that kind of crowd.” “Stockton is one of those games, each team has local kids and they know each other. So it certainly is a game that both teams circle on their calendars,” said Rowan women’s coach Gabby Lisella. “Any NJAC game is a tough game, you have to show up to play. And it seems with Stockton and Rowan, each team really comes to play. We’re both doing well this year, and it’s a battle.” The Stockton men have dominated Rowan in recent years, but had to come from behind on Jan. 20 to win 68-65. Middle Township graduate Marcus Harmon scored the last four points for Stockton, which notched its 17th straight win over Rowan. Raring said the loss to Stockton was tough for the Rowan women’s team, but that they will use it as motivation the rest of the season. “That loss against Stockton hurt us a little bit, but we’re not getting discouraged at all. We’re looking at it like we will see them again at the NJAC tournament. We’re not dwelling on that loss. We’re using it to get better, like we did with our first loss,” Raring said. “When you don’t lose that much, you learn a lot from a loss, especially when it’s a big loss like the one against Stockton.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
College basketball: Intensity of Stockton-Rowan rivalry increasing every year
