CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 5, 2020) – The College of New Jersey men's basketball team grabbed a 35-21 halftime lead and held off Rutgers University-Camden, 77-64, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
 
The Lions improve to 13-8 overall and 10-4 in the NJAC with their 11th straight win over the Scarlet Raptors. They lead the all-time series, 68-18.
 
Rutgers-Camden falls to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the NJAC.
 
The Scarlet Raptors held a few early leads, with the last coming at 12-11 before the Lions took the lead for good on a three-pointer from freshman guard Anthony DiCaro. Leading 23-19, the Lions rattled off nine straight points on the way to their 35-21 halftime lead.
 
The Scarlet Raptors sliced the margin to eight points (55-47) midway through the second half on a layup by junior guard Arian Azemi, but the Lions padded their lead back to 17 points 64-47 before Rutgers-Camden made a late-game run. A 17-7 spurt, capped by a three-pointer from freshman forward Dylan Trow, cut the gap to 71-64 with 3:26 remaining, but that was as close as the Raptors could get. TCNJ scored the final six points of the game, with the final four scored by senior guard Randall Walko, who was named the NJAC Player of the Week on Monday.
 
Walko and junior forward Travis Jocelyn finished with 17 points apiece for the Lions, while senior forward Ryan Jensen added 15 points. Jenson also led the Lions with nine rebounds, helping TCNJ take a 44-31 advantage off the boards.
 
Despite the loss, the Scarlet Raptors accomplished a few individual milestones in the game. Senior forward Isaac Destin notched a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. The 29 points moved him into seventh place on the career scoring list with 1,219, passing Ray Pace, who had 1,201 points in two seasons from 1975-77.
 
Azemi, meanwhile, collected two steals to hike his season mark to 72, setting a new single-season program record. He passed the previous mark of 71, shared by Joshua Askew (2009-10) and Marvin Young (1980-81).
 
Azemi also added 18 points and a game-high five assists, while sophomore forward Jake Petrik scored 13 points.
 
Rutgers-Camden plays an 8 p.m. NJAC game at Rutgers-Newark Saturday.