Box Score


 Camden, NJ… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team ran into a sharp-shooting Rutgers University-Camden squad as they dropped a 76-63 decision in Camden, NJ on Wednesday evening.
 
The Lions (3-11, 5-16) fell behind early as the Scarlet Raptors (5-9, 8-13) built a 39-21 at halftime lead. They hit better than half of their shots (54 percent) to secure their fifth conference win. Rutgers-Camden improves their playoff hopes as they're now tied with Kean University and New Jersey City University at 5-9 for the sixth in the league standings. TCNJ is still in the mix, but needs to win out and receive some help in the final four NJAC contests.
 
The top six teams in the standings receive a playoff berth.
 
The Lions were led by junior Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) who finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Ryan Keegan (Farmingdale, NJ/Howell) netted a career-best 11 points and also had three steals and a pair of assists in the game.
 
Sophomore Teon Russel had a monster game for the Scarlet Raptors, finishing with 25 points and 16 boards. He hit 11-of-16 shots and grabbed all 16 rebounds on the defensive end. Woody Redding and James Coleman reached double figures with 14 and 12 points respectively. Jason Richardson swiped five steals on the night.
 
The game was tight through the opening eight minutes, but Rutgers-Camden put together an 11-0 run to take command. Junior Matthew Rista (Point Pleasant, NJ/St. Anthony's) interrupted flow with a three-point field goal, but the Scarlet Raptors produced an 11-1 stretch that followed, giving them a 33-13 lead with 3:38 remaining in the half.
 
The Lions shot the ball better in the second half and turned it over just five times, but Rutgers-Camden remained steady on offense. A layup by Fox cut the deficit to 13 late in the game, but that would be as close TCNJ would make the game. Rista finished with nine points and junior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) dished out four assists in the game.
 
The Lions return home on Saturday, February 2 to take on Rutgers-Newark at 3 p.m. in Packer Hall.