Box Score

NEWARK, NJ – A late second-half rally fell short as undermanned Rutgers-Newark fell to Richard Stockton, 63-56, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game in The Golden Dome Arena.

The Ospreys (14-6, NJAC 8-1) led for most of the evening before a jumper by freshman swingman Christian Garcia knotted the score at 52-52 with 4:27 left.

A driving layup by sophomore guard Kevin Johnson followed by a 3-point dagger by sophomore guard Ibn Moye with 2:56 left put RSC back in the lead for good.

A jumper by Raider senior guard Pedro Burgos, who netted a game-high 19 points, trimmed the R-N deficit to three before Johnson started a decisive 5-0 spurt with a follow shot.  A free throw by junior guard Darnell McCargo with 33 seconds left and a pair charity tosses by junior forward Bill McDonough with 24.4 ticks remaining extended the Ospreys' lead to 52-54.

Garcia came off the bench for 11 points and four rebounds for the Raiders who played without starting center Hussein Abdelmaksoud who is out indefinitely with a rib injury suffered in practice.  Senior forward Jeremiah Rivers pulled down 11 defensive rebounds and netted seven points for the Raiders.

McCargo paced a balance attack with 17 points and seven rebounds.  McDonough finished with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots for Richard Stockton while senior forward DiAndre Brown battled inside for 11 points and nine rebounds.  McCargo also snared seven rebounds for the Ospreys.

The Ospreys won despite shooting just 35.4% (23-65) from the floor and making just 11 of 21 free throws.  But Rutgers-Newark turned the ball over 18 times and made just two of 13 3-point field goal attempts to tilt the scales.

Richard Stockton locked up the top spot in the NJAC's South Division with four games remaining while the loss dropped Rutgers-Newark into a fourth-place tie in the conference's rugged North Division with New Jersey City.  The top three teams from each division make the 6-team NJAC Championship Tournament field.

Rutgers-Newark hosts Steven Institute in its final non-conference game of the regular season on
Tuesday at 7 p.m. in The Golden Dome.

Then the Raiders will face each of their North Division rivals – Montclair State, William Paterson, Ramapo and New Jersey City – during a 12-day period to determine their post-season fate.