Box Score CAMDEN, N.J. – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team built second-half leads as large as 11 points and survived a furious Eastern University comeback to hold off the Eagles, 77-76, in a non-conference game here Monday.

The Scarlet Raptors improve to 2-6, snapping a four-game losing streak, while the Eagles fall to 3-4.

Holding a 77-74 advantage with 2.8 seconds remaining, the Scarlet Raptors watched a hurried three-point attempt by the Eagles' sophomore guard Malcolm Garrison (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph's) miss the mark. It was rebounded under the basket by junior teammate Antony Parenti (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield), but he had no time to kick it out for another attempted trey and scored on a layup as time expired.

The two teams traded leads eight times and were tied on seven occasions in the first half before Rutgers-Camden took a 35-34 lead at the break. They traded the lead twice at the start of the second half and were tied at 38-38 before the Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good on a jumper by junior guard/forward Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek).

Smart's field goal started a 14-3 Raptor run that gave Rutgers-Camden its first 11-point lead of the night at 52-41. The Raptors also led 54-43, 56-45 and 66-55 (with 7:22 remaining) before Eastern rallied with a 10-2 run, cutting the gap to 68-65 with 5:36 left in regulation.

The Eagles finally closed the margin to one point, 75-74, with 21 seconds remaining before a foul shot by freshman guard Marcus Taylor (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) made it a 76-74 game. On the ensuing Eastern possession, Taylor came up with a big steal, was fouled and hit another free throw to make it 77-74, setting the stage for the Eagles' last-second attempt to tie the game.

Sophomore guard/forward John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech) paced the Scarlet Raptors with 19 points, while junior guard/forward Teon Russell (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) added a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Smart scored 11 and Taylor added 10 for the Scarlet Raptors.

Senior forward Shaliek Johnson (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech) added nine rebounds as the Raptors held a 47-36 advantage off the boards.
Smart also collected a game-high six assists.

For Eastern, Garrison notched game highs of 20 points and three steals, while freshman guard/forward Shaquan Turk (Philadelphia, PA/Gospel of Grace) added 16, with 10 of them coming in the second half. Parenti finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while also leading the Eagles with three assists.

Rutgers-Camden shot 25-for-60 from the floor (41.7 percent) and Eastern shot 23-for-59 (39.0). Both teams made 23 foul shots, with the Raptors shooting 23-for-31 (74.2) and the Eagles going 23-for-33 (69.7).

Eastern shot 7-for-20 from three-point range (35.0) and Rutgers-Camden went 4-for-12 (33.3).

Eastern returns to action Wednesday when it entertains Ursinus College at 7 p.m. Rutgers-Camden doesn't play again until Dec. 29, when it travels to Lehman College in New York for a 4 p.m. contest.