Scarlet Raider Profile: Mark Thomas

NEWARK, N.J. (November 29, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team suffered a 74-63 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) loss at the hands of Kean University Wednesday night in The Golden Dome.
 
Rutgers-Newark falls to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the NJAC, while Kean moves to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Scarlet Raiders will look to get back in the win column Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at NJAC rival Montclair State University.
 
Kean was able to overcome an early 18-2 deficit to pick up the win, shooting nearly 63 percent in the second half.
 
Rutgers-Newark was led by junior forward Mark Thomas who had 22 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Tyler Ofray had 12 points, five assists and two rebounds, and senior center Dave Lunsford totaled nine points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
The Scarlet Raiders shot 33.8 percent (22-for-65) from the field, 4-for-22 from deep and 15-for-22 (68.2 percent) at the line. R-N grabbed 39 rebounds in the game, dishing out 11 assists, recording six steals and three blocked shots.
 
Kean finished the game shooting 51.9 percent from the floor, 44.4 percent from three (8-for-18) and 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) at the line. Freshman Adrian Baucum had 19 points on 10 shots, three boards and three steals to lead the Cougars, and junior Justin Watson had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Ofray canned a three 3:37 into the game to give Rutgers a 5-2 lead and a Thomas triple with 13:54 left in the first made it 14-2. Lunsford put away a pretty feed from Ofray to make the score 18-2 90 seconds later, but Kean was able to battle back with a 19-6 run to make it a 24-21 game with 5:34 left in the opening period.
 
The Cougars knotted things at 27, but Rutgers-Newark rebounded to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room.
 
Junior guard Keenan Williams Jr. hit a triple to give Kean its first lead of the night (35-34), and later a 7-0 run for the guests pushed the lead to six (47-41) with 13:08 on the clock.
 
Kean was able to up its lead to nine with 8:36 remaining, and a Baucum triple extended the Rutgers-Newark deficit to 11 with 6:39 to play.
 
Sophomore guard Chase Barneys scored four-straight points to pull the hosts within seven (64-57) at the 4:15 mark, but that would be as close as the Scarlet Raiders could get down the stretch.