HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 27, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team fell in a non-conference game Sunday at Stevens Institute of Technology as host Ducks defeated the Scarlet Raiders, 75-58, in Canavan Arena.
Rutgers-Newark drops to 0-5 with the loss, while Stevens moves to 2-1. The Scarlet Raiders will look to get into the win column at Kean University Wednesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference clash in Union.
The Scarlet Raiders were led by senior
Nadir Alston who had 17 points on 11 shots (6-for-11) and eight rebounds, junior
Emmanuel Kema who had 14 points and four rebounds and junior
Tyler Ofray who had 12 points, eight assists and three boards.
Stevens shot 52.5 percent in the game, going 5-for-16 from three-point range. The Raiders shot 36.4 percent (20-for-55) from the floor, 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) from distance and 12-for-16 (75 percent) at the line. Rutgers-Newark held a 36-32 margin on the glass, including a 15-9 edge offensive rebounding advantage.
Guard Patrick Barron led three Ducks in double figures with 17 points on the back of three three-pointers, and forward Ryan Coffey grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Stevens raced out to a 15-3 advantage and never let go of the lead, but an Alston layup with 11:54 left in the first pulled the Scarlet Raiders within eight points at 19-11. A Kema put-back again made it an eight-point contest with a shade over five minutes to play in the first half, but Stevens was able to outscore the guests down the stretch and took a 41-28 lead into the break.
The Ducks came out scoring eight of the first 10 points in the second half, with an Ofray three-pointer slowing the momentum for the Scarlet Raiders to get them back within 13 points (49-33) with 15:47 to play.
Stevens would push the margin to as many as 24, but the Scarlet Raiders chipped away to find themselves within 14 points with a little less than five minutes to go after a mini 6-0 run for Ofray. That would be as close as Newark would get, eventually falling by the 75-58 final.
Note: Dating back to 2008-09, Stevens and Rutgers-Newark have split their last eight meetings, 4-4.
