Box Score
CAMDEN, N.J. (Jan. 18, 2017) – The College of New Jersey men's basketball team went on a 16-point second-half run to turn a nine-point deficit into a seven-point lead and went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 73-64, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
The victory lifts the Lions to 12-5 overall and 8-2 in the NJAC, while the Scarlet Raptors fall to 3-12 and 1-9. TCNJ has won five straight games and seven of its last eight against Rutgers-Camden. The Lions lead the all-time series, 63-18.
After the teams battled to a 35-35 halftime deadlock, Rutgers-Camden went on a 10-2 run to start the second half, with eight of those points coming from sophomore forward/center
Isaac Destin (Woodlynne, NJ/Collingswood) and the other two coming from junior guard
Shafeek Taylor (Philadelphia, PA/Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School). Moments later, sophomore guard
Sean Taylor (Brooklyn, NY/South Shore) hit a trey to give the Raptors a 48-39 lead with 14:48 remaining.
The next six minutes belonged to the Lions, who ran off 16 straight points, sparked by a three-pointer from senior guard
Eric Klacik (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) and ending with a layup by Klacik. Five different players scored during the run, with Klacik leading the way with his five points and junior guard
Eric Murdock Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) adding four points.
Murdock Jr. and Klacik both finished with 11 points for the Lions, while Murdock Jr. added seven assists, six rebounds and two steals. Senior forwards
Corey Stanford (Pittsburgh, PA/Penn Trafford) and
Bobby Brackett (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrenceville) both added 10 points for TCNJ.
Rutgers-Camden received a game-high 16 points from
Shafeek Taylor, while sophomore guard
Elijah Robles (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) added 16 points. Destin scored 12 and
Sean Taylor had a game-high 11 rebounds and tied Murdock Jr. with a game-high seven assists.
The Scarlet Raptors shot 42.9 percent from the floor (27-for-63), while the Lions shot 48.2 (27-for-56). TCNJ also held a 39-31 advantage off the boards.
Both teams return to NJAC action Saturday. The Lions play a 1 p.m. game at Kean University. Rutgers-Camden hosts No. 22-ranked New Jersey City University at 3 p.m.
