NJAC Release

PITMAN, N.J. (November 11, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) according to a poll of the league's 10 head coaches, it was announced Friday morning by the league office.
 
Rutgers-Newark is coming off a 2015-16 season in which it placed third during the NJAC regular season on the strength of a 14-4 league ledger. The team made the conference semifinals and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro/Upstate Tournament en route to an overall record of 20-8.
 
The Scarlet Raiders – under 16th-year Head Coach Joe Loughran – have made the NJAC Tournament every year since 2007-08 and hope to do the same this year.
 
"Every year we want to fight to find a way in the conference tournament," said Loughran. "We play in an incredibly challenging league – one of the best in the country – so we will need to be ready to compete at the highest level each night."
 
After opening its 2016-17 slate on the road at Centenary College Tuesday night, Rutgers-Newark will welcome Tufts University, FDU-Florham and Southern Virginia University to The Golden Dome for the John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic.
 
R-N will play at New Jersey City University in its conference opener on November 22 and the team's first NJAC home game is against Montclair State University on Saturday, December 3.
 
NJCU was the coaches' pick to win the league, getting six first-place votes, and Ramapo College was selected second. The College of New Jersey finished third (three first-place votes) and defending NJAC Champion Stockton University was fourth.
 
Montclair State finished sixth and is the league's dark horse candidate, while Rowan University, William Paterson University, Kean University and Rutgers University-Camden rounded out the poll.
 
Fans can expect the 2016-17 Rutgers-Newark men's basketball roster to be posted Sunday and a full season preview Monday evening.
 
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