Newark, NJ ... The College of New Jersey men's basketball team battled, but came up short, falling 62-58 to Rutgers-Newark on Saturday night.

The loss drops the Lions to 11-8 overall and 6-6 in conference play. TCNJ remains in fifth place in the league standings with six NJAC games to play in the regular season. The Scarlet Raiders improved to 14-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference.

Sophomore Eric Murdock, Jr. produced a double double for the Lions, tallying 19 points and 12 rebounds along with seven assists. Junior Eric Klacik stayed hot, racking up 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and four three-point field goals.

Rutgers-Newark received a huge effort from Jordan McDaniel. He finished with 28 points (10-of-17 from the floor), grabbed nine boards and blocked three shots.

The Lions played catch-up from start to finish. McDaniel hit a three-pointer in the opening minute and the Scarlet Raiders never relinquished that lead. TCNJ shot just 28 percent from the floor in the opening half and trailed 31-24 at the break.

A three-pointer by freshman Jordan Glover cut the deficit to three points early in the second half, but the Scarlet Raiders responded with a 13-3 run to pull ahead 45-32. The Lions clawed away at the margin and drew within three once again when Klack buried a shot from long distance to make it a 52-49 game with 4:52 to play.

Trailing by six with 1:27 remaining, sophomore Elias Bermudez knocked down a pair of free throws. After a defensive stop, Murdock, Jr. hit a jumper in the paint to close the gap to 59-57 with 33 seconds left on the clock.

Scarlet Raider John Snow hit three free throws down the stretch to hold off the Lions and secure the home win.

TCNJ is back in action on Monday night when they host Montclair State University at 8 p.m. in Packer Hall.