Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. – Seniors Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) and Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) scored 19 points apiece to power the Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team over Neumann University, 71-64, in a non-conference game here Saturday.
 
The Scarlet Raptors improve to 6-4, while the Knights fall to 5-5.
 
In a tight first half, Neumann took an early 9-2 lead before Rutgers-Camden battled back and tied the game at 20-20 on a field goal by junior guard John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech). The Scarlet Raptors took their first lead of the game, 22-20, moments later on a layup by Polk and went ahead by five points, only to watch the Knights rally to tie the contest at 25-25. With 7.1 seconds remaining in the half, the Smart was fouled and made a pair of free throws to give Rutgers-Camden a 27-25 edge at the break.
 
Smart had eight first-half points for the Raptors, while senior guard K.J. Brown (Sicklerville, NJ/Living Faith Christian Academy) added six, all on perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the foul line. Neumann received eight points in the opening half from both junior guard Denzel Yard (Philadelphia, PA/Franklin Learning Center) and freshman forward Andrew Moye (Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz).
 
The two teams traded the lead early in the second half, with Neumann taking its biggest advantage of the second half at 36-32 before the Scarlet Raptors scored eight straight points to take the lead for good. Smart scored four points in the run.
 
Leading 46-43 midway through the second half, the Scarlet Raptors went on a seven-point run, sparked by a trey from Polk, who scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half. That run stretched the Rutgers-Camden advantage to 53-43 and the Knights never came closer than seven points, on several occasions, the rest of the way. Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 14 points (60-46) with 4:10 remaining.
 
In addition to their 19 points, Polk and Smart also led the team with seven rebounds apiece. Junior guard Julian Martin (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) tallied 13 points for the Raptors, while Brown finished with 10. Brown also added his Raptor career high of four steals.
 
Sophomore Marcus Taylor (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) dished off four assists to lead the Raptors.
 
Moye collected game highs of 21 points and nine rebounds for Knights, who won the battle of the boards, 39-32. Junior guard Kevin Green (Chester, PA/Chester) added 14 points and a game-high six assists, while Butler finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for the Knights.
 
Sophomore guard DeShawn Lowman (Wilmington, DE/Concord) had a game-high six steals for Neumann to go along with seven points and five rebounds.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Monday night with a 7 p.m. game at Moravian College.
 
The Knights play a 7 p.m. contest Wednesday night at Centenary College.