WAYNE, N.J. (Feb. 14, 2026) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team went on a 15-5 run to close out its New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday and defeated William Paterson University, 62-54.
 
The win lifts the Scarlet Raptors to 12-11 overall and 7-10 in NJAC play, guaranteeing Rutgers-Camden of at least a .500 season for only the second time in the last 11 seasons. The Raptors were 13-12 two years ago and have one game remaining on Wednesday night, when they host New Jersey City at 7:30 p.m.
 
Paterson falls to 8-16 overall and 3-14 in the NJAC, while losing its sixth straight game in the head-to-head series against Rutgers-Camden. The Pioneers still lead the all-time series, 68-14.
 
William Paterson held a 22-21 lead after a back-and-forth first half. The Raptors built a 33-28 lead early in the second half, only to watch Paterson go on an 11-point run to grab a 39-33 advantage. Rutgers-Camden bounced back to tie the game at 47-47 on a jumper by senior forward Cameron Downs with 6:09 remaining before the Pioneers again took the lead, 49-47.
 
Trailing, 49-47, the Scarlet Raptors went on a 10-point run, tying the game and taking the lead for good on a three-point play by Downs, who was fouled while making the game-tying layup and added a free throw to put Rutgers-Camden ahead, 50-49. Senior guard Eric Benjamin followed with a trey and a jumper to make it 55-49 and sophomore guard Ryan Senft tacked on a pair of foul shots, giving the Raptors a 57-49 lead with 2:50 remaining. Paterson never came closer than six points (57-51) the rest of the way.
 
Downs led a balanced Raptor attack with 16 points and a game-high three blocked shots, while Senft and Benjamin each scored 12 points and freshman forward Makai Crawford added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
 
William Paterson received a double-double from senior forward Ethan Paul, who scored 11 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Rutgers-Camden held a 34-30 edge off the boards, shot 20-for-54 (37.0 percent) from the floor and hit 14 of its 15 foul shots, led by Senft's 6-for-6 from the line. Paterson shot 19-for-47 (40.4) from the floor and 13-for-25 (52.0) from the line.