Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team closed out the regular season in impressive fashion here Wednesday night, and the Scarlet Raptors made a strong case for a post-season bid in the process.
A 14-3 run midway through the first half helped the Raptors take a 10-point halftime lead and they went on to post an 80-69 victory over New Jersey City University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
Rutgers-Camden finished the regular season with a 14-11 record overall and an 8-10 mark in the NJAC. It is the exact mark that the team compiled during the 2001-02 campaign, the last time the Scarlet Raptors had posted a winning season. Rutgers-Camden hasn't owned a better men's basketball record since an 18-8 season in 1977-78.
The Scarlet Raptors finished seventh in the NJAC standings, barely missing the six-team playoffs, and will wait to see if they get selected for the ECAC Metro Tournament when that field is announced on March 2. If they get an ECAC berth, it will be the program's first post-season game since reaching the NAIA District 31 finals in the 1965-76 season.
NJCU, which closes the regular season at 12-13 overall and 9-9 in the NJAC, will advance to the conference playoffs, which begin Saturday.
The Raptors' win snapped a 19-game losing streak against the Gothic Knights, who also had won 47 of the last 48 meetings between the teams entering the game. The last time Rutgers-Camden won in Jersey City came on Jan. 20, 1988 by a 63-62 score. The only win Rutgers-Camden had against NJCU since then, prior to Wednesday night, was a 103-99 double-overtime game in Camden on Feb. 9, 2002.
NJCU leads the all-time series, 57-5.
Senior guard/forward
Teon Russell (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) scored 14 points in the opening half as the Scarlet Raptors built a 39-29 lead at the break. They were tied at 8-8 when a tip-in by freshman forward
Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) gave them the lead for good and sparked a 10-point Raptor run. Senior guard
Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) scored five points in that span.
After NJCU stopped the run with a three-pointer, the Raptors scored the next four points to complete a 14-3 run.
Rutgers-Camden opened the second half with a 14-4 run to break the game open.
Polk finished with a game-high 28 points for the Scarlet Raptors, hiking his season point total to 433, the 18th-highest mark in program history.
Russell, meanwhile, had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the 23rd double-double of his stellar four-year career. He raised his career scoring output to 975 points and his rebounds to 568, seventh on the program's all-time list, while also blocking three shots.
The Scarlet Raptors blocked 12 as a team, including a game-high five by senior guard
Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek), establishing a career high. Smart also grabbed eight rebounds.
Bah and junior guard
Julian Martin (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) both notched eight points, which set a career high for Bah. His previous high of seven was accomplished three times. Martin added a game-high three steals.
The game had historical significance for another reason, as senior guard
Jason Richardson (Cedarbrook, NJ/Winslow Township) played in his 100th career contest at Rutgers-Camden, tying the program mark set by Reggie Owens (1981-85). Richardson, who notched one point, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block, hiked his career totals to 173 steals and 155 assists, second and 13th, respectively, on the all-time program lists.
NJCU received 15 points from junior guard
Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange), 13 points from senior forward
Neville Joseph (Newark, NJ/West Side) and 10 from senior forward
Drew Marley (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia). Rutgers-Camden shot 28-for-51 (54.9 percent) from the floor, while NJCU went 29-for-78 (37.2). The Scarlet Raptors also had a 44-35 advantage off the boards.
