BETHLEHEM, Penn. (Nov. 18, 2023) – Sophomore forward Cameron Downs scored game-high totals of 27 points – two shy of his career high – and added a high of four steals to lead the Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team over Moravian University, 91-85, in a non-conference game here Saturday.
 
With their second straight win, the Scarlet Raptors improved to 3-2, the first time they've been over .500 after five games since they also were 3-2 during the 2019-20 season.
 
Moravian suffered its first loss, dropping to 2-1.
 
In a wild game with eight lead changes and five ties, both teams rolled up large leads early, only to see them vanish. The Scarlet Raptors led, 17-11, early in the first half before the Greyhounds bounced back to take a 37-32 halftime lead. Opening the second half, Moravian's sophomore guard Porter Kelly hit a three-pointer as the home team took a short-lived 40-32 lead.
 
Rutgers-Camden roared right back with a 10-point run behind six points from Downs and four from sophomore forward Cherif Kanoute. That 42-40 lead was answered by six straight points from Moravian as the Greyhounds took their final lead.
 
With Moravian up, 53-49, Rutgers-Camden scored the next eight points – all by Downs – as it took the lead for good. The closest the Greyhounds came after that was at 62-60 and 65-63. The Scarlet Raptors went on to build nine-point leads of 78-69 and 80-71 before settling for a six-point win.
 
Downs' 27 points, on 12-for-18 shooting from the floor, paced four Scarlet Raptors in double figures. Junior guard Eric Benjamin canned 15 points, while sophomore guard Jordan Trusty-Smith netted 13 and senior guard Ethan Tarte added 10. Trusty-Smith also added four assists.
 
Kanoute paced the Scarlet Raptors with 10 rebounds and five assists, while adding eight points. Junior forward Jordany Pierre collected nine points.
 
Moravian received 26 points from sophomore forward Marquis Ratcliffe, who also blocked five shots, while Kelly netted 19 points and team highs of nine rebounds and five assists. Two other Greyhounds scored in double figures, as junior forward Gary Francis and senior guard Alex Dietz notched 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot 36-for-63 (57.1 percent) in the game, including 25-for-40 (62.5) in the second half. The Raptors were 11-for-24 (45.8) on three-point attempts.
 
Rutgers-Camden also held a 36-29 advantage off the boards.
 
Moravian shot 30-for-58 (51.7) overall, including 10-for-28 (35.7) from beyond the arc.
 
The Scarlet Raptors open their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game at The College of New Jersey.