Box Score

Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak in the New Jersey Athletic Conference ended as they dropped a 59-51 decision to Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon.

It was a tight battle from start to finish, but the Scarlet Raiders capitalized on their opportunities in the final minutes to pull out a hard-fought victory. Rutgers-Newark raised their season record to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the NJAC. The Lions dropped to 5-8 this season and 3-4 in the conference.

Junior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) led TCNJ with 10 points in the game. Junior Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) and freshman Eric Klacik (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) each finished with eight points, while sophomore Bobby Brackett (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) added six points and nine rebounds.

Junior guard John Snow (Newark, NJ/Montclair Kimberly) posted a game-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Junior Christian Garcia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) finished with 11 points and six boards, while classmate Doze Ikwuegbu (Union, NJ/Union) produced 10 points and three assists.

Local product and sophomore David Azoroh (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) added 10 points and blocked four shots in the win.

TCNJ played strong defense in the first half and it was clean defense. They committed just one foul in the opening 17 minutes and held the Scarlet Raiders to just six free throw attempts.

The Lions enjoyed their largest lead at 25-16 with two minutes left in the first half. Up by four, junior Emmanuel Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) beat the shot-clock with a long three-pointer. He then deflected a pass on the ensuing possession and fed Brackett on a fast break that he capped off with a two-handed jam.

Rutgers-Newark finished the period with a flourish, posting a 9-1 run. Snow dropped in a layup on a fast break as he was fouled and made his free throw to cut the deficit to 26-25 at the break.

The two teams traded punches through the first ten minutes of the second half. The difference never climbed higher than three points, and a put-back by Ettin knotted the score at 41 with 9:25 to play.

The game got chippy over the next five minutes, but it did not impact the balance of play. A pair of successful free throw attempts by Joe Kane (Cinnaminson, NJ/Holy Cross) gave TCNJ a 48-47 edge, but it would be their last lead of the contest. The Scarlet Raiders went on a 7-0 run to claim their largest lead at 54-48 with 1:28 remaining. They scored 12 of the game's final 15 points to maintain a hold on third place in the conference standings.

TCNJ is back on the floor on Wednesday night when they visit Montclair State University for an 8 p.m. tip-off. Rutgers-Newark plays host to Kean University on Wednesday evening.