BUFFALO, NY – All-tournament junior guard James Johnson (Summit, NJ/Summit HS) paced Rutgers-Newark with 14 points, but Thomas More College shot 55.1% from the floor to take the Buffalo State Coles Classic trophy, 75-55, in the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play
Johnson, who keyed last night's decisive rally against John Carroll, netted 14 for the second straight game while senior forward David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) posted 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Junior forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) contributed eight points and five rebounds while junior point guard Tim Smith (Mullica Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) added five boards, four points and two assists.
Junior guard De'Vion Manning (Maplewood, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) dished off five the Raiders' season-low nine assists as Rutgers-Newark shot just 35% from the floor. Junior forward Phil Barnes (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) came off the bench for a team-high seven rebounds and five points.
Cherry opened the scoring with a 3-point jumper in the second minute, but the Saints answered with a 12-2 run to seize control of the game for good with tournament MVP Brian Muse scoring five of his game-high 20 points during the run.
The Raiders (3-1) trimmed the lead to 20-17 on a 3-point jumper by Johnson with 8:13 left in the opening period, but that was as close as Rutgers-Newark would get. Muse, a junior forward, poured in eight more points as the Saints (2-0) put together a 17-5 spurt to lead by 37-22 with 1:18 left in the period.
A jumper by junior forward Ryan Gillens (Newark, NJ/Eastside) pulled the Raiders to within 12 at 40-28 with 17:42 left, but the Saints pulled away to a 22-point lead at 52-30. Rutgers-Newark got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
Muse hit eight of nine shots from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds for Thomas More while senior forward Mark Tinklenberg and sophomore guard Eddie Brown scored 10 points apiece for the Saints. Tinklenberg added six rebounds and junior forward Daniel McKeehan collected seven as Thomas More controlled the boards, 40-32.
Rutgers-Newark will host CCNY in a women's and men's doubleheader in The Golden Dome on Tuesday. The women tip off at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30.
