Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. – Junior forward Jordan McDaniel (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) scored a game-high 28 points to power the Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team over Rutgers University-Camden, 75-70, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
 
The Scarlet Raiders improve to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the NJAC with their third straight win over Camden in the series between the sister schools. Newark leads the all-time series, 45-34.
 
The Scarlet Raptors fall to 7-5 overall and 2-4 in the NJAC, snapping a three-game winning streak.
 
After a first half that featured two lead changes and two ties, Newark held a slim 34-32 advantage at the break. McDaniel scored 13 of those points, including the first six of the game as Newark jumped out to a 6-0 lead. For Rutgers-Camden, a pair of seniors, guard K.J. Brown (Sicklerville, NJ/Living Faith Christian Academy) and guard/forward Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) collected nine points apiece in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Scarlet Raptors went on an 11-6 run to start the second half, holding their final lead at 43-40 following a jumper by Smart with 13:41 remaining. Moments later, McDaniel hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 43-43 and a layup by senior guard/forward Christian Garcia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) put the Scarlet Raiders ahead to stay, 45-43. Newark built its margin to as many as 10 points, 69-59, with 1:32 remaining before the Raptors whittled the margin to five points in the last seconds on a trey by Brown.
 
In addition to McDaniel, junior forward David Azoroh (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) notched 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Scarlet Raiders. Garcia finished with nine points and a game-high five assists.
 
Brown collected a career-high 18 points for the Scarlet Raptors, passing his previous high of 17 scored against The College of New Jersey on Nov. 25. Smart also added 18 points for the Raptors, while hauling down a team-high seven rebounds to help Rutgers-Camden hold a 35-26 advantage off the boards.
 
Senior guard Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) chipped in with 11 points for Rutgers-Camden.
 
The Scarlet Raiders shot 22-for-41 from the floor (53.7 percent), including 9-for-16 (56.3) from three-point range. The Scarlet Raptors were 26-for-56 (46.4) from the floor and 8-for-25 (32.0) from three-point range.
 
Both teams return to NJAC action on Saturday. Rutgers-Camden plays a 3 p.m. game at Montclair State University, while Rutgers-Newark hosts William Paterson University at 8 p.m.