Box Score

Camden, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team used a tremendous second half to fight its way past Rutgers University-Camden 69-56 on Saturday afternoon in Camden, NJ.

The victory was the first New Jersey Athletic Conference win for the Lions as they raised their season record to 2-6 and are now 1-3 in league play. The Scarlet Raptors fell to 1-5 and 1-2 in the NJAC.

After hitting just 8-of-27 shots in the opening period, TCNJ knocked down 19-of-31 field goals in the second half to outscore RUC 47-25. Junior Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) drained a trio of three-pointers after the intermission to lead the Lions' offense. He finished with a team-high 16 points.

Sophomore Bobby Bracket (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) and senior Joe Kane (Cinnaminson, NJ/Holy Cross) each posted double-doubles in the win. Brackett netted 15 points and grabbed 14 boards, while Kane finished with career bests in points with 10 and rebounds with 12.

TCNJ struggled with its shooting touch in the first half, missing all eight three-point attempts. They did push ahead with an early lead after junior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) dropped in a bucket as he was fouled. He knocked down the free throw and TCNJ edged ahead 11-10.

The Scarlet Raptors responded with a three-point field goal by junior Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) and took a 19-13 with just over ten minutes to play. Junior guard Darius Griffin, Jr. (Piscataway, NJ/Bishop George Ahr) drained a jumper to pull within four bur the RUC defense held the Lions without a field goal over the next eight minutes of play. A layup by junior Jason Chalmers (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) cut the deficit to single digits as the Scarlet Raptors held a 31-22 advantage at the break.

The second half followed a completely different script. With junior guard Emmanuel Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) controlling the tempo, the Lions came out with purpose after the break. Trailing 44-39 with 10:47 to play, TCNJ rattled off 13 straight points.

Scarlet Raptor Jason Richardson put an end to the drought by hitting a 3-pointer, but Brackett scored on the three straight possessions. He dropped in a layup, put back an offensive board, and then slammed home a dunk off a feed from Chalmers. RUC never got within nine points the remainder of the game as the Lions sealed the road win.

Chalmers finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Matlock commandeered the offense with seven points and six assists.

While the offense picked up the pace in the second half, the defense enjoyed its finest effort to date. They allowed a season-low 56 points in the contest.

TCNJ is off until next Saturday when they visit Westfield State University. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start in Westfield, MA.