NEWARK, N.J. (December 7, 2016) – The Ramapo College men's basketball team defeated Rutgers University-Newark by a score of 68-46 Wednesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game in The Golden Dome.
 
Ramapo improves to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the league, while Rutgers-Newark drops to 2-7 overall and 2-2 in the NJAC.
 
The Scarlet Raiders - who were playing without junior guard Tyler Ofray who was injured – hung tough for the first 25 minutes of the game, but the Roadrunners were able to pull away late for the NJAC win.
 
Rutgers-Newark shot 36.4 percent from the floor, 30.8 percent from three and 10-for-15 at the line, tallying 20 points in the paint and getting 16 points off the bench. The Scarlet Raiders totaled 28 rebounds, eight assists and five steals in the contest, and Newark also competed very well on the defensive end throughout, holding Ramapo to a season-low 68 points.
 
Junior forward Kenya Brown had 10 points and eight rebounds, and freshman forward Landon Gaines had 12 points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Mike Vick had six points, three assists and a pair of rebounds, while freshman guard Chase Barneys had seven points. Sophomore forward Mark Thomas had five points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
Ramapo had three players in double figures, and the Roadrunners were led by 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals from senior forward Sultan Aminu. Junior forward Christopher Moseley had 14 points, four assists and four rebounds, while junior forward Thomas Bonacum had 13 points, three assists, three rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
The Roadrunners ended the game shooting 59.6 percent from the field, 50 percent from three (4-for-8) and 50 percent at the line (8-for-16).
 
The Scarlet Raiders worked to slow the pace in the first half and were able to hold the Roadrunners to just 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Rutgers-Newark was led by Brown who had six points and seven rebounds in the period, but the Scarlet Raiders struggled to score, shooting 6-for-23 from the floor and 1-for-7 from deep. R-N did however shoot 6-for-7 at the line to stay close, and trailed 28-19 at the break.
 
After Ramapo opened a 26-15 margin with 6:50 left, Rutgers-Newark clamped down on defense, holding the Roadrunners to just two points the rest of the period.
 
The highlight of the first half for the Scarlet Raiders may have been a pretty four-point play from Vick who took a pass from Barneys on the right wing and drilled a three-pointer while getting fouled.
 
Brown got the Raiders off to a good start in the second, but Ramapo scored the next 11 points to open a 39-21 margin and force a Rutgers-Newark timeout.
 
Gaines converted a beautiful full-court pass from Vick into two points to help Rutgers-Newark get within 15 (43-28), and two foul shots trimmed the RC lead to 13 with 13 minutes remaining. A Ramapo turnover and two points from Gaines on a pretty feed from sophomore Mark Thomas then forced a guest timeout.
 
Newark picked up a stop out of the TO, and Thomas found junior forward Dave Lunsford for a driving bucket to get back within single digits. Ramapo then slowed the Scarlet Raider momentum, pushing the lead back to 16 with 8:02 to go and then 20 (56-36) with a shade under seven minutes remaining, and the Scarlet Raiders were unable to threaten the rest of the way.
 
Rutgers-Newark will look to get back in the win column Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Scarlet Raiders visit non-conference foe Penn State University-Abington.