EWING, N.J. (Feb. 13, 2021) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team played its best game of the season against a top-notch team here Saturday afternoon, but the undefeated College of New Jersey outlasted the Scarlet Raptors, 58-50, in New Jersey Athletic Conference action.
TCNJ improves to 4-0 overall and 4-0 in the NJAC, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 0-4 and 0-4. The Lions have won 13 straight games against Rutgers-Camden and lead the all-time series, 71-18.
After the Lions had built a 27-20 halftime lead, Rutgers-Camden came out on first in the second half by scoring the first eight points to grab a 28-27 advantage. Sophomore guard
Tyree Mann-Barnes started the run with back-to-back field goals. Freshman guard/forward
Jaelin Keels added a jumper to cut the gap to 27-26 and sophomore guard/forward
Jaymes Savage put the Raptors on top with a jumper only 4:21 into the half.
After TCNJ scored the next three points, freshman guard
Chris Ray hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 31-31, the sixth deadlock of the contest. With the score tied at 33-33, a trey by freshman guard
Gavin Henry put the Raptors ahead, 36-33, with 11:36 remaining.
The teams continued their tight play, being tied at 36-36 and 38-38 before a trey by Raptor junior forward
Jake Petrik gave Rutgers-Camden its last lead of the day at 41-38. The Lions countered with 10 straight points, taking the lead for good, 42-41, on a layup by senior guard P.J. Ringel with 8:59 remaining. They eventually grabbed an 11-point lead (56-45) before the Raptors whittled it down to six points (56-50) on a layup by Savage with 37 seconds remaining. Ringel closed out the scoring with a pair of foul shots.
Senior forward Travis Jocelyn paced TCNJ with 17 points, while junior forward Danny Bodine netted 13 and Ringel added 12. Ringel also collected four assists, six steals and six rebounds.
Henry paced the Scarlet Raptors with 13 points, while Savage canned 11 and Mann-Barnes added eight. Savage had team-high totals of six rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC play Friday when it entertains Stockton University at 7 p.m.
