PROVIDENCE, R.I. – January 31, 2023 – The Dean College men's basketball team suffered a 77-62 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss at Johnson & Wales (JWU) Tuesday evening.

The Wildcats earn the season split after Dean picked up an 80-66 home win back in December.

Dean (13-7, 8-5 GNAC) stays on the road for a 7:30 p.m. tip at Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Thursday. JWU (9-10, 6-6 GNAC) plays at Albertus Magnus on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Dean junior AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo.) poured in a game best 23 points. Senior Mark Blair (Rosedale, N.Y.) was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 14 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds and added three steals. Junior Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) also had seven boards to go with four blocks.

Sophomore Josh Zangerle (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Freshman Izaiah Shaw-Glen (Baldwin, N.Y.) posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Aireus Raspberry (Cranston, R.I.) also scored 19 points.

The home team got off to a hot start with a quick 7-2 run to begin the game. Dean stayed close at 13-11, six minutes into the contest. JWU then slowly built a comfortable lead that they would hold for the remainder of the half. The Wildcats received 17 points from Zangerle and 13 from Raspberry to help take a 45-31 lead into halftime, while Weston put in 12 for Dean.

The Wildcats controlled the glass in the first half to hold a 24-13 advantage in rebounding. JWU shot 54.8% from the floor, while Dean was held to 35.3% shooting.

JWU held a double digit lead for the first 11+ minutes of the second half until a Weston long ball brought the Bulldogs within nine at 60-51 with 8:23 left to play. Junior Malik Spearman (St. Paul, Minn.) the scored on a free throw and a jumper to cut the Dean deficit to six. The Wildcats responded with the next eight points to put the game out of reach with a couple minutes to play.

JWU finished the game with a wide rebounding margin of 51-24. The Wildcats also posted a 46-22 advantage of points in the paint.

Dean has been outrebounded in five of its seven losses this season.