Box Score EWING, N.J. – Senior guard
Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) scored 16 points and freshman guard
Eric Murdock Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) added 14 as The College of New Jersey men's basketball team held off Rutgers University-Camden, 66-54, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
The Lions improve to 9-8 overall and 5-5 in the NJAC, while the Scarlet Raptors fall to 9-8 and 3-7.
TCNJ leads the all-time series, 59-18, but the teams have split their last six games.
In a first half that was tied on three occasions and saw the lead change twice, the Lions held a 25-23 lead at the break. Jayson Johnson had 10 points in the opening half for the Lions, while senior guard/forward
Teon Russell (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) scored seven points in the first 20 minutes for the Scarlet Raptors.
The game was tied for the last time at 37-37 before a layup by Jayson Johnson gave the Lions the lead for good, 39-37. With TCNJ clinging to a 42-40 lead, the Lions held the Raptors scoreless for 3:19 while rattling off seven straight points on their way to an eventual 10-point lead (52-42). Although Rutgers-Camden sliced the gap in half to 56-51, they couldn't get any closer the rest of the way.
In addition to Jayson Johnson and Murdock, the Lions received 11 points from senior forward
Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton). Russell finished with 17 points for the Scarlet Raptors, while senior guard/forward
Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) added 14 and sophomore guard
Marcus Taylor (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) netted nine. Russell added a game-high eight rebounds, while freshman forward
Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) collected a career-high seven boards.
Senior guard
Jason Richardson (Cedarbrook, NJ/Winslow Township) played in his 92nd career game, tying for ninth on the program's all-time list. He added one steal, giving him 162 for his career, one shy of Dane Nicholson (2003-07) for second place on the all-time list.
Rutgers-Camden shot 19-for-52 (36.5 percent) from the floor, while TCNJ shot 23-for-47 (48.9). The Scarlet Raptors held a 32-29 edge off the boards.
The Scarlet Raptors play another NJAC game Saturday when they host William Paterson University at 2 p.m.
