NEW YORK, N.Y. (Nov. 21, 2024) – Way back in the 1974-75 season, the Rutgers-Camden men's basketball team opened its season with five straight wins.
 
Ever since then, that 5-0 start has stood as the program's high-water mark…until now.
 
Rutgers-Camden tied its program record here Thursday night as the Scarlet Raptors defeated Hunter College, 74-67, to raise its record to 5-0.
 
Hunter fell to 1-4 with its third straight loss.
 
The first half saw four ties and six lead changes before Rutgers-Camden took the lead for good, 29-27, on a layup by junior guard Eric Benjamin with 4:29 remaining in the half. The Raptors followed with a layup by junior forward Cherif Kanoute and capped a seven-point run with a trey by Benjamin on their way to a 34-29 halftime lead.
 
The Scarlet Raptors expanded that lead early in the second half and, after a three-pointer by graduate student guard Javon Gordon, they held a 54-38 lead and were seemingly on their way to a comfortable win. Hunter, however, followed with a 22-9 run to slice the gap to 63-60 with 2:02 remaining.
 
Junior forward Cameron Downs gave the Scarlet Raptors a little breathing room with a layup, but the Hawks cut the margin back to three points with a pair of foul shots by junior guard Sal Saputo with 1:12 remaining. Benjamin drilled a trey with 54 seconds left for a 68-62 Raptor lead, but the host team made it 68-64 on a layup by junior guard Kevin Caminero with 37 seconds left. Kanoute and Benjamin both hit a pair of foul shots to give the Raptors a 72-64 lead and after a trey by Hunter's senior guard Enzo Caceres-Roussel, Benjamin closed out the scoring with two free throws.
 
For the game, both senior forward Jordany Pierre and Benjamin hit four treys to help Rutgers-Camden shoot 13-for-35 from three-point range (37.1 percent). Pierre shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points.
 
Benjamin scored a game-high 20 points, while Downs netted 16 and Kanoute added 14. Downs completed a double-double with 13 rebounds, helping Rutgers-Camden hold a 42-31 advantage off the boards. Kanoute grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Benjamin added five assists, Kanoute blocked three shots and Gordon collected four steals for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Saputo led all scorers with 25 points, while completing his own double-double and tying Downs for game-high rebounding honors with 13.
 
Overall, Rutgers-Camden shot 24-for-57 (42.1) from the floor and Hunter shot 22-for-59 (37.3). The Scarlet Raptors shot 13-for-14 (92.9) from the foul line, including 7-for-8 by Kanoute. The Hawks shot 15-for-22 (68.2) from the charity stripe.
 
Rutgers-Camden plays a 2 p.m. game at Swarthmore College on Saturday as it tries to set a new program record.