Box Score

MAHWAH, NJ – Rutgers-Newark's furious last-minute rally fell short by one bucket as top-seeded Ramapo escaped with the New Jersey Athletic Conference title, 67-65, in the Bradley Center.

Senior point guard Al'Don Muhammad's acrobatic final shot from straight away banged off the backboard and the right side of the rim to send the Roadrunners (23-4) into a frenzied celebration while the second-seeded Scarlet Raiders (20-7) slumped in narrow defeat as Ramapo fans rushed the floor.

Down 65-58 with 2:13 left, the Raiders shaved the final deficit to just two as Muhammad hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to draw Rutgers-Newark to within two with 1:36 left.  After a pair of free throws by senior forward Elgin Brown pushed the Ramapo lead back to four with 1:13 remaining, Muhammad drove the lane and bounced a pass to freshman forward David Azoroh  who was alone under the basketball for a layup which made it 67-65 with 41 ticks on the clock.

Azoroh made a steal on the other end of the court as the Roadrunners were pressing to get off a shot as clock ran down and the Raiders pushed the ball to midcourt before calling a timeout with seven seconds left.  Muhammad collected the ball and drove to the top of the key for the final shot of the game.  Ramapo guard Garret Thiel gathered in the miss to insure the victory.

The lead changed hands three times and the score was knotted four times in the final 20 minutes in the physical battle.

Raider sophomore guard John Snow drove down the right side of the lane to convert a conventional 3-point play with 6:14 left and give Rutgers-Newark its last lead.  Senior guard Anthony LoRusso, who had fouled Snow on the previous play, returned the favor just 13 seconds later by driving down the right side of the lane for a layup and drawing a foul on Snow.  LoRusso's free throw was followed by two free throws by senior forward Stephon Treadwell, a jumper by Thiel and two more free throws by senior guard Will Sanborn to make it 63-55 with 4:14 remaining.

Rutgers-Newark squeezed out a 30-27 halftime edge in a period of swings in which there were four ties and eight lead changes.  Sanborn notched a dozen points and senior forward Elgin Brown, eight, for the Roadrunners.  The Raiders opened with a 6-0 run only to see Ramapo level the score at 8-8.  After jumper by Snow put the Raiders up 17-8, Sanborn and Brown combined for nine points in an answering 10-0 rally.  A jumper by senior center Hussein Abdelmaksoud gave Rutgers-Newark a 29-24 lead with 2:55 left and they Raiders held on for a 3-point halftime advantage.

Muhammad finished with a team-high 15 points plus four assists while Snow and Azoroh notched a dozen points apiece.  Abdelmaksoud hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds to offset just four points while high-scoring swingman Christian Garcia was limited to eight points by the Roadrunners.

Sanborn poured in a game-high 20 points while LoRusso added 17 points.  Brown totaled a dozen points and seven rebounds while Thiel finished with team highs of 10 rebounds, four steals and four assists to go along with seven points.

Rutgers-Newark was denied the first men's basketball conference title in program history after completing its best regular season in history with a 13-5 NJAC mark. 

The loss puts damper on hopes for a possible NCAA Division III Championship bid following a loss by regionally second-rated Old Westbury in the Skyline Conference semifinals on Thursday night.  Ramapo enter the weekend ranked as the top team in the Atlantic Region with Old Westbury in second place.  The Raiders were ranked third.  With the Skyline's automatic bid now going to an unranked team, Rutgers-Newark could be blocked out of the NCAA field.

The NCAA brackets will be announced on Monday.  If the Raiders don't make the NCAA playoffs, a top seed in the ECAC Metro Championship would be likely.  The ECAC bracket will also be announced on Monday.