Box Score

BROOKLYN, NY – Rutgers-Newark got 43 points from its bench, but Brooklyn College notched a 93-80 win in the opening round of the ECAC Metro D-III Men's Basketball Championship in the West Quad Center.

Freshman guard Mikal Demby tallied a career-high 17 points and freshman swingman Christian Garcia added 16 points, seven rebounds and a game-high five steals to lead the boost from the bench for the Scarlet Raiders (14-13).  But the Bulldogs (18-9) netted a season-high point total by an opponent against the usually stingy Rutgers-Newark defense.

High-scoring senior guard Pedro Burgos was limited to 10 points and finished his 2-year career in Scarlet & Black with 1,010 points.  Junior point guard Al'Don Muhammad chipped in 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds and four assists while senior guard Greg Moore netted nine points.  Senior forward Jeremiah Rivers had seven points before fouling out of the game.

The senior guard duo of Tyshawn Russell and Amil John raced through the Raiders for a combined 51 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and eight steal.  Russell hit 11 of 13 free throws on his way to a game-high 26 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.  John hit eight of 10 charity tosses while finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds, a game-high seven assists and four steals.

Russell netted 15 points and John, 14, as Brooklyn College constructed a 48-42 halftime lead.  There were four ties and three lead changes in the opening period before John and Russell had all of the Bulldog points in a 12-2 run which put Brooklyn College in control, 43-32, with 2:44 left in the half.

A conventional 3-point play by Rivers just 11 seconds into the second period trimmed the Rutgers-Newark deficit to 48-45, but the Raiders would never get the lead.  Russell converted a 3-point play with 9:12 left to give Brooklyn College a 76-62 lead.  Rivers fouled out on the play and the Raiders never got closer than seven points down the stretch.

It marked the second time that Brooklyn College has bumped Rutgers-Newark from the ECAC Metro tournament in the opening round in as many chances.  The Bulldogs posted an 87-79 win over the Raiders in Brooklyn in the 2008 playoff opener.

Moore (215 in four seasons) and Burgos (185 in two seasons) finished as the top two career 3-point field goal marksmen in Rutgers-Newark history.