UNION, NJ – Senior Bimpe Fageyinbo paced Rutgers-Newark with a dozen points and seven rebounds, but Kean muscled its way to a 68-33 win in the opening round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament in Harwood Arena.
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The Scarlet Raiders (11-14) ended their season with the program's unprecedented fifth straight trip to the NJAC Championship, but Rutgers-Newark's run of five straight winnings seasons and five consecutive ECAC Metro Championship bids was snapped.
Junior center Courtney Vacca notched nine points, six rebounds and two steals for R-N but the Cougars (20-5) shut down high-scoring backcourt of freshman Jared Tactuk and senior Youngor Kehleay. The duo, which combined for 12 points a game during the regular season, was limited to just nine. The pair made just two of 21 total field goal tries with Tactuk making one of eight from beyond the arc and Kehleay, one of seven. The rookie did come up with a team high four steals for the Raiders.
Senior guard Ebony Jackson led a balanced Kean assault with 14 points, seven assists and four steals while sophomore forward Tiffany Patrick added 13 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists.
The Cougars travel to Montclair State – the NJAC North Division top seed – on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. semifinal showdown. South Division top-seed TCNJ hosts William Paterson, which squeaked past Rowan, 51-50, in its opening round game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Wednesday nights' winners advance to the NJAC Championship game on Saturday with the winner garnering the league's NCAA automatic qualifier berth.
The Scarlet Raiders, who finished the regular season as the NJAC leaders in scoring defense (50.0 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (32.7%), were overpowered by the defending conference champions who limited Rutgers-Newark to a season-low 10 points in the first half. The Cougars connected on 61.4% of their field goal attempts – easily the top performance by an opponent this season – while limiting Rutgers-Newark to just 18.5% from the field. The 35-point margin of defeat equaled the 65-30 deficit against McDaniel on November 22.
