Box Score

UNION, NJ – Senior center Sharee Gordon's blocked shot and 3-point play in the final seconds left lifted Rutgers University-Newark to a heart-pounding 68-66 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over Kean University in the Harwood Arena.
 
Senior forward Jade Howard carried the Scarlet Raiders with a career-high 34 points plus a game-high 12 rebounds and four steals as Rutgers-Newark vaulted into a tie with Richard Stockton for third place in the NJAC standings.
 
The Raiders held a precarious 65-64 lead in the final minute before Gordon's Herculean finish.  Rutgers-Newark led 65-63 after a jumper by Howard with 1:19 left, but Cougar senior guard Shanice Jones sliced the lead to one with by hitting the second of two free throws with 50 seconds on the clock.
 
After a Howard turnover, Gordon notched her third blocked shot of the game against freshman center Majha Treadwell with 18 seconds remaining.  Howard rebounded a missed follow shot by junior forward Jazmine Davis just two seconds later to set up Gordon's game-winning play off of an assist from junior guard Arianna Williams with just seven seconds remaining.
 
After a Kean timeout prior to Gordon's free throw, the Cougars sliced their final deficit to two on a buzzer-beating layup by Davis.  It was too little, too late.
 
In an opening period which featured four ties and three lead changes, Howard hit nine of 15 shots from the floor to tally 20 points while collecting seven rebounds and three steals to stake the Raiders to a 35-34 lead at intermission.  After a Treadwell free throw tied the score at 34-34 with 32 seconds remaining, Howard dropped in the second of two free throws to give Rutgers-Newark the slimmest of edges at the half.
 
There were four ties and two lead changes in the final half but the Cougars never led after a pair of free throws by senior guard AnnaRose Pierre reversed the advantage with the first two points of the period.
 
Rutgers-Newark led 44-37 with 16:16 left on a layup by sophomore guard Maria Simmons, but Kean would fight back to knot the score three more times.
 
Gordon, who played the final 3:48 with four fouls, hit six of eight shots from the floor and all three of her free throws to finish with 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Williams, who totaled just three points while hitting one of five 3-point jumpers, dished off seven assists, grabbed five rebounds and made two steals.  Simmons finished with four points, four assists, four steals and six rebounds to help the Raider edge the Cougars, 39-35, on the glass.
 
Sophomores Shala Glenn and Jasmine Lombard each chipped in six points, three rebounds and an assist as Rutgers-Newark head coach Bill Zasowski used just six players in the contest.
 
Sophomore guard Jaquetta Owens paced Kean with 15 points, seven assists and six steals while Davis added 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals.  Treadwell tallied a dozen points, six rebounds and two assists for the Cougars while Pierre netted 11 points and blocked a game-high four shots.
 
The Raiders (6-3, NJAC 3-1) ran their winning streak to three games while Kean (5-3, NJAC 3-2) saw its modest 2-game winning streak snapped.
 
Howard netted a career-high for the second straight game.  Monday night, she reached the 1,000-point plateau with 29 points in a 78-51 win over Mount Saint Mary.
 
Rutgers-Newark hosts Richard Stockton in a key NJAC doubleheader on Saturday.  The Raider women battle the Ospreys (6-2, NJAC 3-1) at 6 p.m. with the men's game following at 8.