Box Score NEWARK, N.J. – Junior forward
Jordan McDaniel and sophomore guard
Darrian Collins combined for nine points over the final 47 seconds as Rutgers University-Newark held off a furious late rally by New Jersey City for a 73-64 New Jersey Athletic Conference win in The Golden Dome Arena.
McDaniel netted 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half while Collins scored all nine of his while finishing with a game high seven assists and six rebounds to help turn back the Gothic Knights.
Junior guard Khalid Muhammad, who finished with a team-high 22 points, started and finished a 12-3 New Jersey City run with 3-point jumpers as the visitors sliced the Scarlet Raider lead to 64-62 with 1:17 left.
Collins sank a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left before feeding McDaniel on a breakaway layup with 29 ticks remaining. McDaniel completed the conventional 3-point play to push the Raider lead to 69-62. Senior guard Jourdan Roberson drove to the hoop seven second later to reduce the Gothic Knights' deficit to five before Collins and McDaniel each sank a pair of free throws in the final 21 seconds to finish the scoring.
Senior swingman
Christian Garcia went inside to score four field goals as Rutgers-Newark sprinted out to a 13-0 lead during the first 3:13 of the contest. Although the Raiders led wire-to-wire, New Jersey City hustled its way back into contention before the half. A follow shot by senior forward Drew Marley sliced the Rutgers-Newark lead to three with 28 seconds remaining in the period. Senior guard
Chris Foreman launched a long-range jumper just before the horn to send the Raiders into intermission with a 33-27 lead.
Garcia finished with 20 points, hitting nine of 12 shots from the floor to help Rutgers-Newark connect on a season's best 59.5% (22-37). Collins went six for six from the free throw line and McDaniel, 11 for 13, as the Raiders sank 25 of 32 from the charity stripe. He moved past Jermont Horton (1,320 points - 2003-07) into third place on the R-N all-time scoring list with 1,328 points.
Senior guard Doze Ikweugbu hauled down a game-high eight rebounds to help the Raiders dominate the glass, 37-19, while adding five points and a pair of assists.
Muhammad added four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot for New Jersey City while senior forward Neville Joseph totaled 13 points, three rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Joseph Kelley and junior guard David Cole chipped in seven points each for the Gothic Knights with Kelley notching a team-high four assists and three steals. Marley came off the bench for six points and three rebounds while senior center Eddie Brown collared a team-high five rebounds.
The loss snapped a 2-game conference winning streak for New Jersey City (5-11, NJAC 3-7) while the Raiders (13-4, NJAC 7-3) won their third straight NJAC contest to take over sole possession of third place in the 10-team league.
Rutgers-Newark visits Richard Stockton on Saturday for an NJAC doubleheader. The women's game tips off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3.
