CAMDEN, N.J. (Jan. 8, 2025) – Rutgers University-Camden junior forward
Cameron Downs became the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, but the Scarlet Raptors dropped a New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball game, 88-59, against NJAC-leading and nationally-ranked Stockton University here Wednesday night.
The Ospreys, ranked 19th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, improve to 11-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Rutgers-Camden falls to 5-7 overall and 0-6 in NJAC play.
The Ospreys lead the all-time series, 85-10, although Rutgers-Camden swept the season series during the 2023-24 campaign.
Downs, who entered the night with 991 career points, reached his milestone on a foul shot with 7:25 remaining in the game. He went on to add two more points on the night, finishing with 11 in the game and hiking his career total to 1,002.
Stockton, meanwhile, never trailed in the game, scoring the first seven points and increasing its first-half lead to as many as 21 points (36-15) before Rutgers-Camden whittled the margin to 41-32 at halftime. Early in the second half, a layup by junior forward
Cherif Kanoute made it an eight-point game (42-34), but that was the closest the Raptors came. Stockton led by as many as 31 points (75-44) late in the game.
Junior guard EJ Mattews-Spratley led the Ospreys with 19 points, two days after he was named the NJAC Player of the Week for his performances last week. Junior forward Tayvon Gaither and sophomore guard Andrew Crawford added 12 points apiece, while sophomore guard Eriq Campbell scored 11. Campbell added a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Rutgers-Camden received 15 points from sophomore guard
Lamar Davis and junior guard
Jordan Trusty-Smith, while Downs added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Stockton shot 32-for-60 (53.3 percent) from the floor and 14-for-221 (66.7) from the foul line, while also holding a 44-25 advantage off the glass. Rutgers-Camden shot 17-for-50 (34.0) from the floor and 19-for-31 (61.3) from the foul line.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. NJAC game at Kean University.
