Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Jan. 24, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Camden and Rowan University men's basketball teams were rolling up points at a breakneck speed in their New Jersey Athletic Conference rivalry here Wednesday night.
 
By the time the pinball machine stopped on the scoreboard, after a five-minute overtime, the Profs escaped with a 104-101 victory in a game for the record books.
 
The victory lifted Rowan to 9-10 overall and 5-8 in the NJAC, while Rutgers-Camden fell to 3-15 overall and 1-11 in the conference. Rowan holds a 94-32 lead in the all-time series and has won its last five games against Rutgers-Camden, including a 93-68 win in Glassboro on November 29.
 
The contest marked the first time in the history of the 126-game series that both teams scored over 100 points. It was the first time Rutgers-Camden played in a game like that since a 118-112 home victory over William Paterson University on Feb. 22, 1988.
 
The last time the Scarlet Raptors allowed over 100 points came in an 85-105 loss at Rowan on Jan. 25, 2017. The last time they scored over 100 came in a 112-85 win at Valley Forge Christian on Nov. 28, 2005.
 
In a game that had almost everything, the Raptors led by as many as 10 points on four occasions in the first half, the last coming at 20-10. By halftime, the score was 47-46 in favor of Rutgers-Camden and the Raptors built an 85-75 lead with 4:19 remaining in regulation. Rowan fought back to tie the game, 95-95, on a pair of foul shots with 36 seconds remaining by junior guard/forward Ramon Wright (East Orange, NJ/Irvington), who shot a perfect 13-for-13 from the foul line on his way to 21 points.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored the first three points in overtime on a pair of foul shots by freshman guard John Herndon (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic Prep), sandwiched around a foul shot by junior guard Anthony Harris (Philadelphia, PA/Philadelphia Electrical & Technology), but Rowan got two points back on a layup by sophomore forward Austin Kearney (Monroeville, NJ/Gloucester County Christian), capping a huge night in which he scored a game-high 35 points.
 
Moments later, senior forward TJ Booth (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) drained a three-pointer to give Rowan a 100-98 lead, but Rutgers-Camden senior guard Vincent Anfield Jr. (Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley) answered with a layup to force the seventh tie of the contest, 100-100.
 
Booth added a pair of field goals down the stretch, including a jumper with 1:46 remaining that put the Profs ahead to stay, 102-100. Anthony Harris scored the Raptors' final point from the foul line with 35 seconds remaining. Rutgers-Camden missed on a three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
 
In addition to Kearney and Wright, Rowan received 20 points from Booth and 11 from junior guard Nick DePersia (Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial). Wright also added a team-high nine rebounds and tied Nick DePersia for a team-high six assists as Rowan held a 41-39 edge off the boards.
 
Rutgers-Camden placed five players in double figures, with Anfield scoring 23, Anthony Harris canning 22 and senior guard Marcus Taylor (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) notching 14 points to complete a double-double that saw him collect a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior guard Juan Perez-Jones (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury) scored 13 points and Herndon added 10 for the Raptors, while barely missing his own double-double and finishing with nine boards. Herndon, pictured above, also had game-high totals of seven assists and five steals.
 
Rowan shot 35-for-74 (47.3 percent) from the field and 27-for-34 (79.4) from the foul line. Rutgers-Camden went 36-for-68 (52.9) from the field and 21-for-34 (61.8) from the line.
 
Both teams made 16 turnovers.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday with another NJAC home game. It faces sister school Rutgers-Newark at 3 p.m.