Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 17, 2016) – On a night where the Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team closed its season by celebrating the Scarlet Raptor careers of three seniors, it also had the tough task of hosting the regular-season champions in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

Senior Night Photo Gallery
 
That championship team, New Jersey City University, showed why it is heading into the NJAC playoffs as the top seed as it defeated Rutgers-Camden, 76-53, here Wednesday night.
 
NJCU, which improves to 18-7 overall and 15-3 in the conference with its fifth straight win, will host a NJAC semifinal game on Feb. 24. Rutgers-Camden, meanwhile, closes its season with a 3-22 record overall and a 1-17 mark in the NJAC.
 
The Gothic Knights lead the all-time series, 59-5, and have won 49 of the last 51 games against the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Prior to the game, Rutgers-Camden celebrated Senior Night by honoring guard/forward John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech), a three-year Scarlet Raptor letterman, and first-year Raptor guards Jonathan Baker-Jernigan (Willingboro, NJ/BCIT-Medford) and Shaun Thomas (Newark, NJ/St. Mary's of the Assumption).
 
Once the action started, the teams swapped six early leads before NJCU took the lead for good, 18-17, on a three-pointer by junior guard Andrew Tomlin (Newark, NJ/Central) midway through the first half. By halftime, the Gothic Knights had a 37-21 lead, aided by scoring the last 11 points of the opening half.
 
Ten players broke into the scoring column in the opening half for NJCU, led by Tomlin's eight points. Rutgers-Camden, meanwhile, shot only 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from the field in the opening half and was led by six points apiece from Baker-Jernigan and freshman guard Elijah Robles (Clifton, NJ/Clifton).
 
The Gothic Knights led by as many as 26 points (67-41) in the second half.
 
Tomlin finished with a game-high 17 points, while freshman center Yuri Brutus (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) canned 11 and junior guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park) added 10 for the Gothic Knights. NJCU placed 13 players in the scoring column and shot 27-for-76 (35.5) for the game, while out-rebounding Rutgers-Camden, 59-42. Tomlin led the way with seven boards.
 
Tatem paced the Scarlet Raptors in his final collegiate game, netting 13 points to finish his three-year Rutgers-Camden career with 620. Baker-Jernigan, meanwhile, notched 12 points and tied sophomore forward/center Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) for game-high rebounding honors with eight apiece. Bah also added nine points.
 
Junior forward Noah McFarlane (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) added seven boards for the Scarlet Raptors, while Robles and freshman guard Tyree Mann-Barnes (Woodlynne, NJ/Collingswood) both scored eight points.