Box Score

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Jan. 13, 2016) – Freshman forward Isaac Destin (Woodlynne, NJ/Collingswood) scored a career-high 25 points, but the New Jersey Athletic Conference-leading New Jersey City University Gothic Knights placed 10 players in the scoring column as they defeated Rutgers University-Camden, 78-65, here Wednesday night.
 
NJCU improves to 9-5 overall and 7-1 in the conference, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 2-11 and 1-7.
 
The Gothic Knights lead the all-time series, 58-5, and have gone 57-3 in their last 60 meetings against Rutgers-Camden. The Scarlet Raptors won the final meeting between the teams last year to snap a 19-game losing streak in the series.
 
Destin scored the first six points of the game to help the Scarlet Raptors take the early lead, but the Gothic Knights forged back to tie the game at 9-9 before taking their first lead of the night, 11-9, on a layup by senior guard Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange). After a pair of foul shots by Destin tied the game at 11-11, Muhammad hit two free throws of his own, giving the Gothic Knights the lead for good.
 
NJCU opened up a 44-31 halftime lead, sparked by 10 points from junior guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park) and nine from senior forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter).
 
Destin had eight points at halftime for the Scarlet Raptors, while senior guard Jonathan Baker-Jernigan (Willingboro, NJ/BCIT-Medford) added seven.
 
Destin scored the first two field goals of the second half, cutting the Raptors' gap to 44-35, but the Gothic Knights immediately countered with a three-pointer by junior guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side), making it a 12-point game. The Raptors never cut the gap below 10 points the rest of the way and NJCU opened up leads as large as 19 points (70-51) late in the game.
 
Harris finished with 19 points for the home team, while freshman center Yuri Brutus (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) added 10. Muhammad and Wosu collected nine points apiece and Robinson added eight points and four assists. Freshman forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) dished off a game-high six assists for NJCU.
 
Destin shot 10-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 from the line on his way to a game-high and career-high 25 points. His previous high of 14 points came against Neumann University Dec. 30. Destin also added six rebounds, two blocked shots, one assist and one steal.
 
Senior guard Shaun Thomas (Newark, NJ/St. Mary's of the Assumption) added his Rutgers-Camden career high of 10 points. Senior guard/forward John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech) and sophomore forward Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) shared the team lead with seven rebounds apiece, while adding seven and six points, respectively.
 
Freshman guard Elijah Robles (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) had a team-high five assists.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot 20-for-44 (45.5 percent) from the field, while NJCU was 28-for-70 (40.0), including 8-for-19 (42.1) from three-point range. The Gothic Knights held a 37-33 edge off the boards and forced 27 Scarlet Raptor turnovers, while NJCU made 13 turnovers.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Saturday when they host Ramapo College in a 3 p.m. NJAC game.