NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark visits top-seeded Ramapo at 7 p.m. on Friday in search of the first New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship in program history.

Ramapo (22-4) handed the Scarlet Raiders (20-6) their worst loss of the year in Mahwah on December 12, 79-52, but Rutgers-Newark shocked the league-leading Roadrunners, 72-69, in The Golden Dome on February 6.

Rutgers-Newark will be playing in the NJAC title game for only the second time in program history.  The Raiders fell to Stockton, 62-54, in the 2009 championship final.

The NJAC tournament winner received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.  The Raiders garnered their only NCAA berth with an at-large bid in 2010, falling in the opening round to the University of Rhode Island.

Under 12th-year head coach Joe Loughran, the Raiders have been to seven of the last nine NJAC tournaments.