Box Score

 Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team fell to Rutgers-Newark 72-58 in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Packer Hall.
 
The Lions (5-17, 3-12 NJAC) still have life in their quest for a post-season berth, but need to win their final three games and receive some help around the league. The Scarlet Raiders (16-6, 10-5 NJAC) remain tied for third place in the standings, and will look to secure a home playoff game this week.
 
Sophomore Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) scored a game-high 19 points for TCNJ. Junior Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) tallied nine points, while freshman Mitch Miller (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) netted five points and matched a season-high with seven boards.
 
Sophomore guard Christian Garcia  (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) led Rutgers-Newark with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of steals. Senior forward Hussein Abdelomaksoud (West New York, NJ/Memorial), was 10-for-10 from the charity stripe to finish with 16 points and eight boards, while senior Al'Don Muhammad (Irvington, NJ/Queen of Peace) contributed with 12 points and six assists.
 
Five offensive rebounds in the opening 12 minutes helped stake Rutgers-Newark to a 21-12 advantage. The Lions hit six of their first 12 shots, but heavy pressure by the Raider defense made it difficult to create quality shots. A put-back by Miller drew TCNJ within five with two minutes remaining in the half. After Garcia banked in a shot off a fast break, Johnson hit a free throw to close the gap to 28-22. But Garcia drained a shot from downtown to give RN a 31-22 lead at the intermission.
 
Junior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) hit three of his first four shots in the game and finished with eight point in the half. Garcia had 10 points and five boards in 17 minutes of play.
 
Rutgers-Newark continued to play stingy defense in the second half. A team that allows just 59.7 points per game (second in the NJAC), they held the Lions to a single three-point field goal in the game. Muhammad knocked down a long 3-pointer at the 11:55 mark to force a TCNJ full timeout down 50-35.
 
The game devolved into a free-throw shooting contest midway through the period. Teams were whistled for a combined 50 fouls in the contest. The Lions climbed their way back into the game, and with 6:00 to play, senior William Lester (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 58-51 game. Johnson then picked up a steal and went coast-to-coast to draw within five.
 
Sophomore guard John Snow (Newark, NJ/Montclair Kimberly) hit a big three to slow the Lions' momentum as the RN defense held TCNJ to just one field over a 4:18 span. The hit their free throws down the stretch for the 16^th victory of the season.
 
The Lions return to action on Wednesday evening at Rowan University at 8 p.m. They play their regular season home finale next Saturday, February 9 against New Jersey City University at 3 p.m.