NEWARK, NJ – Sophomore forward Phil Barnes posted his fourth double-double of the season with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds to pace Rutgers-Newark to a 70-52 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over New Jersey City in The Golden Dome.
NCAA Box Score
The win kept the Scarlet Raiders (13-10, NJAC 6-5) in the thick of the race for one of three North Division berths in the upcoming NJAC Championship Tournament. The Gothic Knights (14-9, NJAC 6-5) dropped back into a fourth-place divisional tie with Rutgers-Newark – a game in the loss column behind Ramapo. Each team has two regular-season games left. The teams split their regular-season series with the Raiders falling in overtime in Jersey City in January.
RAIDER VISION HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
Barnes had five points and junior guard Chadd Barnes, who tallied 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists, and senior center Afolabi Ajumobi added four points apiece as Rutgers-Newark opened the game with a 21-8 run. The Gothic Knights shot an icy 30 per cent from the floor and were out-rebounded, 27-15, to fall behind 35-22 at intermission.
Junior forward David Cherry scored eight of his 12 points in the second half as the Raiders pushed the lead to 62-34 on a Chadd Barnes jumper with 8:11 remaining. Ajumobi blocked three shots, grabbed seven rebounds and tallied six points for Rutgers-Newark.
Sophomore forward Divine Lyles hit three of three field goal attempts, including both 3-point tries, on his way to a team-high nine points for the Gothic Knights. But, NJCU connected on just 29.7 per cent of the field goal tries on the evening.
Senior forward Marques Hill had a team-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points and two steals for NJCU while junior guard Dana John suffered through a two-for-10 night from the field on his way to seven points and four rebounds.
Montclair State (13-9, NJAC 7-4) upended William Paterson (16-5, NJAC 8-2), 69-61, in Wayne tonight, dropping Rutgers-Newark and NJCU into the hole in the North Division. But, the Scarlet Raiders are still the masters of their own fate.
Rutgers-Newark visits Ramapo (12-9, NJAC 6-4) on Saturday afternoon while New Jersey City hosts William Paterson on Senior Night in Jersey City in a set of crucial NJAC games. The Raider men tip off at 3 p.m. in Mahwah while the Gothic Knights and the Pioneers clash at 8 o'clock.
The Raiders downed Ramapo, 78-61, in The Golden Dome last month. A win in the Bradley Center on Saturday would give Rutgers-Newark an all-important tie-breaker over the Roadrunners. The Raiders host William Paterson on Senior Night on February 23 to cap their regular season.
