Box Score

KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 8, 2016) – When the Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team fell into an 11-point hole midway through the first half in a non-conference road game, it appeared the Scarlet Raptors would have to wait until another day to end their long losing streak.
 
Rutgers-Camden, however, had other ideas here Monday night at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The Scarlet Raptors rallied to pull out a 70-67 victory over the Mariners, snapping their 13-game skid.
 
Rutgers-Camden improves to 3-19, winning for the first time since a 57-50 victory at Immaculata University Dec. 12. USMMA falls to 11-10 with its second straight loss.
 
Late in the first half, the Scarlet Raptors trailed, 30-19, before ending the half with a 12-5 run. Freshman forward Isaac Destin (Woodlynne, NJ/Collingswood) scored five points during the run, while senior guard Jonathan Baker-Jernigan (Willingboro, NJ/BCIT-Medford) added three.
 
In the second half, however, the Mariners went on an early 10-6 lead to hike their advantage to 45-37, and they led by seven points (48-41) with 13:12 remaining before the Scarlet Raptors started their comeback. Layups by junior guard Julian Diaz-Smitherman (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) and sophomore forward Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) quickly sliced the gap to 48-45. The Raptors kept the run going with a layup by senior guard/forward John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech) before a jumper by freshman guard Elijah Robles (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) gave Rutgers-Camden its first lead of the night, 49-48.
 
The Mariners recovered with three straight points to take a 52-49 lead, but a three-pointer by Baker-Jernigan tied the game at 52-52 with 8:02 remaining. The teams also were tied at 54-54 before USMMA senior guard/forward David Smith (Lakewood, WA/Bellarmine Prep) hit a trey to put the Mariners ahead, 57-54. Baker-Jernigan quickly answered with a three-pointer to tie the game again.
 
After four more lead changes and six ties, the Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good, 66-65, on the back end of two straight foul shots by Bah. A jumper by Robles with 56 seconds remaining and a foul shot by him with 27 seconds left made it a 69-65 game before USMMA's junior guard Matt Miller (Augusta, GA/Augusta) hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left to slice the gap to two points. With 13 seconds remaining, Robles hit another foul shot to make it 70-67. USMMA missed a three-pointer with three seconds left, grabbed the rebound and called timeout with .6 seconds remaining, but the Mariners failed to cleanly inbound the ball and get a shot off as time expired.
 
Robles finished with a game-high 19 points, while Tatem and Bah both logged double-doubles. Bah had a game-high 17 rebounds and added 11 points, while Tatem notched 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bah's 17 boards set a career high, passing his 16 in the win over Immaculata.
 
Destin added 10 points and Baker-Jernigan finished with nine.
 
Merchant Marine received 14 points from junior guard George Hatzioannides (Oakland Gardens, NY/St. Francis Prep). Smith, Miller and sophomore guard Robbie Kennedy (Spring Lake, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) all scored 12 points.
 
Rutgers-Camden won the game at the line, shooting 22-for-31 (71.0 percent), while USMMA went 16-for-29 (55.2). The Raptors also had a commanding 55-34 advantage off the boards to offset a 17-8 disadvantage in turnovers.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to New Jersey Athletic Conference action Wednesday night when it hosts sister school Rutgers-Newark at 8 p.m.