Box Score

Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team dropped a 68-63 decision to Rutgers University-Camden in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Wednesday evening in Packer Hall.
 
The Lions (2-5, 1-3 NJAC) fought back from a 12-point deficit late in the game to make it exciting, but the visiting Scarlet Raptors (3-3, 2-2 NJAC) were able to hang on for their third victory of the season.
 
Sophomore Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) had a strong second half to lead TCNJ with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) posted a game-high six assists to go with his 10 points, and senior Zach Friedrich (Berlin, NJ/East Stroudsburg South) netted a career-best 10 points and five boards.
 
Junior guard Woody Redding (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic) registered a game-high 19 points, while sophomore forward Teon Russell (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) grabbed 11 boards and also chipped in with eight points. Senior guard Germir Pitts (Cedarbrook, NJ/Winslow Twp) added 10 points and three assists.
 
The opening half was evenly played and it was reflected in the halftime score. The lead exchanged hands 12 times and was tied on four occasions. The Scarlet Raptors built the largest lead of the period at 28-22 when Pitts hit a jumper and then floated in a foul shot. The Lions responded as junior Joe Kane (Cinnaminson, NJ/Holy Cross) took a feed under the basket from Johnson followed by a three-point field goal from senior William Lester (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex). Kane then converted a free throw to tie the game up with 3:26 to play in the half.
 
Neither team could manage a basket for a remainder of the half as it remained deadlocked at 28.
 
Rutgers-Camden returned to the floor and hit its first five shots of the second half to jump out to a 40-32 advantage. The pace of the game picked up from there, but both offenses struggled to hit shots. Redding knocked down a three-point shot from the right corner with 9:14 remaining to stretch the Raptor advantage to 54-42.
 
Trailing by 11 points, Lester drilled his second trey from the corner to cut the lead to eight. After a defensive stop, Johnson hit Fox with a long pass and he promptly dropped in a layup to draw within six points with 5:16 remaining.

After an RUC free throw, Fox muscled his way inside to kiss a layup off the glass to make it a 59-54 game with 4:19 on the clock. Redding hit a pair from the charity stripe, but Fox launched in a jumper from behind the arc to bring the crowd to its feet and cut the lead to four.
 
The Raptors pushed the lead back to seven, but another three-point field goal by junior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) made it a 66-62 game. The Scarlet Raptors, however, did just enough to hold off the Lions and escape an important conference win.
 
Kane finished with eight points and four boards. Lester grabbed five rebounds to go with his six points. The Lions shot just 29 percent from the floor, but were able to knock down eight, three-pointers in the game.
 
Senior guard Yusuf Leary (Portland, OR/Lincoln) hit three-of-five shots for eight points and junior Michael Williams (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) also added eight points on four-of-five shooting.
 
The Lions return to conference play this Saturday when they visit Ramapo College for a 3 p.m. start. The Raptors square off against Penn State Brandywine in Rowan Invitational this Friday night.