Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey men's basketball team (11-3, 6-1 NJAC)  defeated Rutgers Newark (5-9, 1-7 NJAC) on Wednesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up by a final score of 76-65.

The Scarlet Raiders scored the opening six points, however the Lions roared back with an 14-0 run. Joe Montano (Eatontown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) was on fire, as he hit three three pointers in a row, with the last one coming from about 25 feet out after receiving a feed from Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) on the fast break. Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) knocked down another triple on the next possession to put the Lions up 14-6 with 11:55 left in the first half. The Lions used a 9-0 run to push the lead to 29-15. Jensen grabbed a strong offensive rebound and hit the put back as he was fouled, and converted the free throw for the old fashioned three point play. On the next possession, Liam Byrne (Middletown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) hit a three off a dish from Murdock Jr., and then Byrne found Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) at the top of the arc, and Walko hit to make it 29-15 Lions.

In the second half, the Scarlet Raiders battled back to tie it up 49-49. Murdock Jr. scored on a strong take to the basket, and hit two free throws after being fouled on the next possession to put the Lions up 53-49. With seven minutes to play, Murdock Jr. drilled a three pointer to give the Lions a five point advantage, however the Scarlet Raiders refused to go away and kept the pressure on the Lions. With 5:32 to play, Jensen found Montano down low and he hit on the lay up to put the Lions up 61-57. After a Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) lay up put the Lions up 63-57, Murdock Jr. found Montano wide open from downtown and he remained locked in to put the Lions up 66-57. Carpenter was fouled on a strong take to the bucket with just over one minute to play, and hit one out of two free throws to put the Lions up 68-63. On the next possession the Scarlet Raiders had a good look from three point range but could not get it to fall, and Murdock Jr. pulled down the rebound. The Lions hit the necessary free throws down the stretch to hold onto the victory. 

Murdock Jr. scored 23 points and went 14-15 from the free throw line, and moved into ninth place in program history in points as he now has 1,322 on his magnificent career. Montano scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting coming off of the bench, including 4-6 from three point range. Carpenter added 12 points, and Jensen grabbed a team high ten rebounds while scoring nine points off of the bench. Walko scored seven points and added seven rebounds. 

The Lions held the edge on the glass, as they out rebounded the Scarlet Raiders 41-32. The Lions 

With the win, the Lions match the best start through 14 games since the 2004-05 season,

The Lions will return to the court for another conference contest on Saturday, January 13^th at Montclair State University.