POMONA, NJ – Despite a team-high 19 points from junior forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) the Scarlet Raiders (12-9, 5-4 NJAC) dropped their second straight New Jersey Athletic Conference tussle with a 73-67 loss to Richard Stockton (19-2, 8-1).

NCAA Box Score and Play-By-Play

Junior guard Tim Smith (Mullica Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) finished with 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while fellow junior James Johnson (Summit, NJ/Summit) added 13 points. Senior swingman David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) rounded out the Scarlet Raiders' top scorers with eight points to go along with four rebounds and three assists.

Trailing 15-8 at the 12:00 minute mark, Singleton connected on a jumper to spark an 8-2 Scarlet Raider run that cut the deficit to one with just under nine minutes remaining in the half.

Ospreys' junior guard Santini Lancioni responded with back-to-back triples to push the Richard Stockton advantage back up to seven at 7:57. Lancioni would strike again minutes later converting a layup to increase the Stockton lead to 12.

Junior forward Phil Barnes (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) would cut the lead to 10 with a layup at 3:29 before Johnson netted back-to-back baskets, including his first three of the afternoon, to pare the lead back down to five with just over two minutes left in the half.

But thanks to Lancioni and junior forward Isham Poe, Richard Stockton would net the final three points of the stanza to take an eight point advantage into the break.

The Ospreys would take control of the game early in the second on the strength of a 12-3 run, stretching the margin to 17.

Still down 17 with 10:41 to go the Scarlet Raiders would outscore their Osprey counterparts 13-5 over the next six and a half minutes of action to slice the lead to nine with 4:13 remaining.

Singleton would bring the Scarlet Raiders within seven with a layup at 2:29, but a Michael Farrow layup coupled with a Kai Massaquoi free-throw would push the Rutgers-Newark deficit back up to 10 with just 1:04 to play.

Undeterred, the Scarlet Raiders would mount one final rally, pulling to within four after a Barnes layup capped off a 52 second span in which the Scarlet Raiders outscored the Ospreys 10-4, but Farrow would finally put Rutgers-Newark away with a dunk with just six seconds left.

Lancioni led all scorers with 23 points, while Farrow added 15 points and four rebounds. Poe and senior forward Jerome Hubbard collected 11 points apiece, while junior Omar Smith rounded out the list of Osprey double-digit scorers with 10.

Rutgers-Newark will travel to Mahwah, NJ to face conference rival Ramapo on Wednesday, February 4.