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Rutgers-Newark Highlights
MAHWAH, N.J. (February 16, 2016) - The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team took care of business Saturday in its home finale, and the Scarlet Raiders hope to do the same at Ramapo College Wednesday night when they close out their regular season and NJAC slate against the Roadrunners in what will be a key New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) showdown.
Rutgers-Newark and Ramapo played a thriller on January 13 in The Golden Dome Arena, with the Scarlet Raiders coming away with a 76-75 overtime victory.
That victory is currently the difference between the two schools in the conference standings, as Rutgers-Newark currently sits third at 13-4 in NJAC play, one game ahead of the Roadrunners who are 12-5.
New Jersey City University has clinched one of two first round byes, and Stockton University is presently in position for the other as the Ospreys (13-4 NJAC) hold the tiebreaker over Rutgers-Newark.
A win over Ramapo for the Raiders and a loss at Montclair State University Wednesday for Stockton would give R-N the second seed, but Head Coach
Joe Loughran wants his team to focus on only what it can control.
"Scenarios are exactly that, scenarios," said Loughran. "We need to get ready to do all we can do Wednesday night against Ramapo. They are an excellent team and they are playing extremely well, so before we even think about what everyone else is doing, we need to take care of business which will be a big challenge."
The Scarlet Raiders will definitely have at least one home game in The Golden Dome Arena in the conference tournament as they have been locked in to a top-four seed since last Wednesday's victory at Rutgers University-Camden.
Who that game will be against is anyone's best guess as The College of New Jersey (8-9), William Paterson University (7-10), Montclair St. (7-10) and Rowan (6-11) are all mathematically alive for the fifth and sixth seeds in the tournament.
In the Scarlet Raider win over Ramapo in January, senior forward
Jordan McDaniel led the way with 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting, six rebounds and two steals. Senior guard
John Snow had 17 points, six boards and three assists as the veteran duo - along with classmate
David Azoroh - eclipsed 1,000 career points over the last month.
McDaniel is currently second in the conference in scoring at 20.4 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 6.9 rebounds per contest. The veteran forward is sixth in field-goal percentage as well (52.9 percent), while Azoroh leads the NJAC in that category at 56.4 percent. Snow sits fifth in the conference in scoring at 17.7 points per game, and senior guard
Vik Singh is No. 4 in three-point field-goal percentage at 41.2 percent.
The Roadrunners have been led all season by sophomore forward Thomas Bonacum who shoots 50 percent from three - No. 1 in the NJAC - and is fourth in the conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game. Bonacum led the Roadrunners with 22 points, four assists and three steals in the first meeting between to the two rivals.
Fans unable to make the trip to the Bradley Center can follow live via links at
www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com.
