CAMDEN, N.J. (Nov. 11, 2021) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team tried its best to rally from a rough first half in its season opener here Thursday night.
 
The Scarlet Raptors nearly accomplished that feat before falling to Cabrini University, 64-59, in a non-conference game.

After Rutgers-Camden scored the first four points of the game, Cabrini (1-1) answered with 20 of the next 21 points, building a 20-5 advantage. The Cavaliers took the lead for good at 6-5 on a jumper by sophomore forward Joshua Jones, sparking a 16-point run. Cabrini led by as many as 16 points in the first half (22-6, 28-12 and 33-17) before taking a 33-19 lead into halftime.
 
The Cavaliers built that margin back to 16 points with the first basket of the second half, a layup by freshman guard/forward Donoven Mack, before Rutgers-Camden started to whittle away at its deficit. A 9-2 run cut the gap to nine points at 37-28 with 16:55 remaining. It was the first time the gap was in single digits since a 14-5 margin midway through the opening half.
 
Cabrini's lead fluctuated between single digits and 11 points until midway through the second half, when a six-point Scarlet Raptor run cut the margin from 43-32 to 43-38 with 9:28 remaining. That run was built on a pair of treys, coming from sophomore guard Gavin Henry and freshman guard Noel Gonzalez.
 
The Scarlet Raptors never got closer than five points until Gonzalez hit another trey in the last couple of seconds, marking it a 63-59 game. Cabrini closed out the scoring on a foul shot by junior guard Christian Lane.
 
Jones finished with 13 points for the Cavaliers. Freshman guard Aquil Stewart notched 12 points and junior guard Ryan Byars added 11. Jones also led the Cavaliers with seven rebounds, while Stewart and Mack shared game-high honors with four steals apiece.
 
Gonzalez netted a game-high 16 points for Rutgers-Camden, while junior guard Tavian Alford scored 11 and Henry added 10. Alford led the Raptors with six rebounds, Henry had a team-high three steals and sophomore forward Tristan Cornish dished off three assists.
 
Cabrini hit 21 field goals in 55 attempts (38.2 percent) and had a 38-32 advantage off the boards. Rutgers-Camden shot 18-for-45 (40.0) and made 24 turnovers to Cabrini's 21.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Tuesday when they host Albertus Magnus College (New Haven, Connecticut) in a 6 p.m. non-conference game.