Box Score

NEW YORK – Déjà vu.  Rutgers University-Newark fell to sixth-seeded Kean University, 70-63, in the semifinal round of the ECAC Metro Championship in the College of Staten Island Sports & Recreation Center in a game that eerily resembled the final game of the regular season between the teams.

Junior guard John Snow posted a game-high 16 points while adding five rebounds and two steals, but the Cougars shot over 50 per cent from the floor in each half and knocked down 3-point jumpers from epic range to edge the second-seeded Scarlet Raiders.  It was the same formula that carried Kean to a 77-73 win on the final night of the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season.

Junior forward Christian Garcia totaled eight points and six rebounds for the Raiders (20-9) while sophomore forward David Azoroh worked inside for nine points and three rebounds.  Forwards Olumide Onajide and Allen Kuiper came off the bench to haul down six and five rebounds, respectively, while netting three points each.

Senior guard Ali Mix led Kean (16-13) with 15 points and a game-high seven assists, but it was the long-range shooting of guards Tommy Soulias and Michael Burton which proved the deciding factor.  Burton connected on three of five 3-point attempts on his way to 15 points and four assists.  Soulias gunned in three of four shots from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points.

With the Raiders trailing just 58-57, Soulias drained a three from the left side with 2:32 left before Burton launched a 28-footer from the top of the key over solid coverage by Raider junior guard Doze Ikwuegbu that found the bottom of the net with 1:18 left.  After Azoroh converted a conventional 3-point play with 1:12 left, Soulias fired in a 25-foot jumper from the top of the key with 44 ticks remaining to push the Cougar lead to 67-60 and essentially end the drama.

Senior forward Kyle Latorre posted a double-double for the Cougars with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Senior center Xavier Fuller tallied a dozen points, eight rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots.

In the rubber match between the NJAC rivals, McDaniel and Ikwuegbu hit back-to-back treys to stake the Raiders to a quick 6-0 lead before the Cougars responded with a 10-6 spurt keyed by two baskets each by Latorre and Fuller.

Head coach Joe Loughran then pulled his starting five with immediate results.  Sophomore guard Rahim Bunch smothered Mix to slow down the Cougar attack while Onajide and Kuiper brought some physical presence inside to ignite a 17-4 Raider surge.

Rutgers-Newark led 36-28 at the break as Bunch finished the period with six points and a pair of assists.  Snow made all three of his field goal attempts to notched eight points.  Foreman knocked down two of three shots from beyond the arc while Garcia posted five points.

Kean chased down the Raiders in the second half by shooting a sizzling 65 per cent (13-20) from the field while dropping in 11 of 13 free throws.  Burton and Soulias combined to make four of five shots from 3-point range in the period as the Cougars made five of nine in the half.

The championship game pitting Kean against the winner of today's second semifinal match-up between top-seeded CSI (26-3) and fourth seeded Stevens (18-9) tips off the CSI Sports & Recreation Center at 5:30 p.m.

Rutgers-Newark ends its season with its third 20-victory campaign in its last five under Loughran.