JERSEY CITY, NJ – Junior Courtney Vacca (Wayne, NJ, Wayne Hills) paved the way to the Scarlet Raiders' unprecedented fifth straight New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament berth, netting a team-high 15 points, while hauling in a team-best nine rebounds to lead the Rutgers-Newark to a 57-44 victory over New Jersey City.

NCAA Box Score and Play-By-Play

NJAC Championship Tournament Bracket

Rutgers-Newark, which needed a win over NJCU in the season finale to clinch the North division's third and final slot in the six-team tournament bracket, will travel to Kean on Saturday, February 21 for the opening round of the NJAC tournament.

Senior Bimpe Fageyinbo (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) chipped in with a 14-point, 5-rebound, 4-steal effort, while fellow senior Youngor Kehleay (Eatontown, NJ/Monmouth Regional) added 12 points. Freshman guard Jared Tactuk (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) tallied seven points, six boards, and four assists in the win.

With the Scarlet Raiders trailing 8-7 after racing out to an early 6-2 advantage, Tactuk connected on a jumper in the paint at the 11:32 mark of the first half to put Rutgers-Newark back on top.

Tactuk would once again find the distance just minutes later, hitting her first triple of the evening just under the nine minute mark to stake the Scarlet Raiders to a 15-10 edge—their largest of the half.

But freshman guard Lashawn Overton would drain a three of her own on the Gothic Knights ensuing possession to pare the lead back down to two.

An Ebony Cunningham layup at 6:39 following a Vacca free-throw would trim the margin to one, before another Overton triple once again gave the Gothic Knights the lead in a closely contested half.

Freshman Shatanay McCaskill (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) would deadlock the game at 18 with a pair of free-throws just shy of the five minute mark, before a Vacca jumper and Kehleay layup pushed the Rutgers-Newark lead back up to four.

But Overton would once again lead the Gothic Knights back, scoring five of the half's final six points to tie the game at 23 entering the intermission.

Rutgers-Newark would wrestle control of the game early in the second half, mounting a 19-5 run over the first nine minutes of the stanza to take a 42-28 lead. Kehleay netted nine points, including a pair of three-pointers, during the Scarlet Raiders' crucial run, while Fageyinbo added six during the stretch.

NJCU would respond with an 11-2 run of their own over the next six minutes of action to cut the lead to five at the 5:45 mark.

Up six with just over two minutes remaining, junior Renee Edwards (Montville, NJ/West Milford) connected on a pair of jumpers on back-to-back Rutgers-Newark possessions to give the Scarlet Raiders an eight point edge, before Vacca sealed the victory, netting four of Rutgers-Newark's final five points from the charity stripe.

Overton finished with a game-high 19 points in the loss, while Cunningham added 12 points and seven boards. Freshman Patience Brown tallied 11 points, while junior Shayla Daniels hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds.

Tip-off for the Scarlet Raiders' opening round NJAC tournament matchup at Kean is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.