NEWARK, NJ – Junior forward Christian Garcia netted 19 of his game-high 26 points in the second half when Rutgers-Newark rallied from a double-digit deficit to post a 64-62 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over William Paterson in The Golden Dome Arena.

Sophomore forward David Azoroh blocked a driving layup by Pioneer senior guard Javae King-Gilchrist with two seconds left to preserve the Scarlet Raider victory in a game that featured six ties and three lead changes in the final eight minutes of play.

Junior guards Doze Ikwuegbu with 28 seconds left and John Snow with seven ticks remaining each made the first of two free throws to break a 62-62 tie and provide the margin of victory.

After having led for the entire first half and 31-23 at the break, William Paterson pushed its lead to 39-27 with 18:03 left on a layup by freshman guard Turrell McClendon.  Rutgers-Newark refused to let the Pioneers break away as Garcia and sophomore forward Jordan McDaniel had four points apiece during an 8-2 answering run over the next three minutes.

A pair of King-Gilchrist free throws put the Pioneers ahead 49-41 with 12:16 left before the Raiders ran off eight straight points to finally catch WPU with 7:55 remaining on a pair of free throws by Azoroh.

Rutgers-Newark tied the game four more times before finally taking the lead at 60-59 with three minutes left on a pair of free throws by junior Chris Foreman.  The lead see-sawed on layups by Pioneer freshman guard Zack Frick at 2:25 and Azoroh at 1:59 before freshman forward Nick Smith knotted the game for the final time at 62-62 by making the first of two free throws with 1:01 remaining.

Garcia, who netted his season high in points, added eight rebounds to his line for the night while Azoroh came off the bench for a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots.  Foreman chipped in 10 points and five rebounds to help the Raiders construct a 43-37 edge on the boards.  High-scoring Snow was limited to seven points but he contributed six rebounds and two assists.

King-Gilchrist posted a double-double with a team-high 25 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for WPU while junior guard Sandy Burgos dropped in nine of 10 free throws on his way to 15 points.  Sophomore guard Bright Mensah netted nine points before drawing his fifth personal foul.

The game featured 49 personal fouls with the Pioneers making 22 of 34 free throws while the Raiders went 20 for 28 at the charity stripe.

It was the third straight home win for the Raiders (5-2, NJAC 2-1) who began the year with four consecutive road games while William Paterson (5-2, NJAC 2-1) fell for the first time in league play.  The teams are tied for second in the NJAC standinga - a half game behind Richard Stockton (6-1, NJAC 3-1).

Rutgers-Newark rolls into the fall semester exam break by hosting three non-conference games in five days beginning on Tuesday night at 7 against Moravian.  Arcadia visits The Golden Dome Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. before Neumann caps off the Raiders' 6-game homestand at 3 p.m. on Saturday.