Box Score

NEWARK, NJ – Reserve freshman forward David Azoroh came off the bench for a game-high 18 points as Rutgers-Newark shot a sizzling 56.9% from the floor in an 85-60 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over Rowan in The Golden Dome Arena.

The rookie was perfect on the night, nailing all seven of his field goal tries and each of his four free throws, to equal his career-high point total and help the Scarlet Raiders (12-3, NJAC 7-2) score 60 points in the paint to overpower the Profs (10-5, NJAC 4-5).

Rutgers-Newark is tied with Richard Stockton (11-3, NJAC 7-2), a 71-68 loser to league-leading Ramapo (13-2, NJAC 8-1) earlier today, at the halfway point of the NJAC regular season.

The Raiders, who won their sixth straight decision and for the 10th time in their last 11 outings, dropped in a season-high 37 field goals while posting their second best field goal percentage for a game.  Only a 60% (30-50) night at Montclair State on December 1 has been better.

The Raider bench, which outscored its counterpart, 37-19, was clearly the difference.

After a back-and-forth opening eight minutes ended with Rutgers-Newark holding onto a 15-13 lead, head coach Joe Loughran went to his bench to insert Azoroh, senior center Hussein Abdelmaksoud, and freshmen Rahim Bunch and Josh Treadwell while keeping sophomore point guard Doze Ikwuegbu on the floor.  Azoroh netted nine points and Bunch, six, as each player scored in a 25-7 run which staked the Raiders to a 40-20 lead with 5:56 left in the opening half.

Azoroh poured in 13 points as the Raiders took a 50-31 into the intermission, and Rowan never got closer than 15 points in the second half. 

Abdelmaksoud, who hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds, hit three of five shots from the floor to finish with eight points and two assists while Bunch chipped in six points plus game highs of four assists and four steals.

Sophomore swingman Christian Garcia contributed 13 points, three assists and three rebounds while sophomore guard John Snow made six of eight shots from the floor to tally a dozen points.  Ikwuegbu had 10 points and five rebounds while matching Bunch's assist total of four.  Senior forward Fateen Belfield notched 11 points and six rebounds while senior center Mark Moorman added four points and eight rebounds to help Rutgers-Newark control the boards, 48-37.

Junior guard Jason Rosenberg was the only Prof in double-digits with 18 points while senior forward Brendan Cox produced eight points and seven rebounds.  Junior guard Rich McNamara added six points, a team-high eight rebounds while matching Rosenberg with a team-high three assists.

Forced to play catch up, the Profs made just five of 23 jumpers from beyond the arc to lower their overall field goal accuracy to 33.8% (22-65).

Rutgers-Newark visits Moravian College on Monday at 8 p.m. for their final non-conference test of the season.  The Raiders finish the regular season with nine consecutive NJAC contests.