NEWARK, N.J. (December 9, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark rallied from an early first half deficit and eventually pulled away from visiting Rutgers-University Camden in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play at The Golden Dome to win 70-63. The victory snaps a four-game skid as the Scarlet Raiders improve to 3-6 (1-4 NJAC) while the Scarlet Raptors drop to 1-7 (0-5 NJAC).
 
Rutgers-Newark was led by junior Tyler Ofray who poured in a team-best 21 points including two 3-pointers and a 7-for-7 evening from the charity stripe. Ofray also chipped in seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Chase Barneys joined him in double-digit scoring with 11 while contributing a game-high six assists and pulling down six boards. Rookie Jordan Herrin had a big contest coming off the bench, rounding out the double-figure scorers with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting plus seven caroms and three steals.  
 
The Scarlet Raiders started very slowly as the visitors quickly built a 12-3 advantage. R-N wasn't going down without a fight though as the home side responded in kind with a huge surge of its own. Led by seven points from Ofray, the Scarlet Raiders went on an 18-3 run that got them their first edge of the game, 21-15.

Rutgers-Camden battled back quickly to regain its lead with a three consecutive shots from downtown to make it 24-21. From there it was a see-saw fight to the break. The lead changed hands five times and there was one tie in the last five minutes of the first half. A free throw by rookie Emmanuel Kema knotted the game at 29-29 but the visitors would net the next four points to try and gain some distance before the break. That would be wiped away when Ofray drove end-to-end and pulled up from the left wing, draining a trifecta over his defender to cut the deficit to 33-32 headed into the locker rooms.

In the second stanza, the Scarlet Raiders opened the period strong by scoring nine of the first 11 points behind four points from senior Dave Lunsford and a 3-pointer by Kema to claim a 41-35 edge with 16:39 on the clock. While the Scarlet Raptors continued to attempt to draw closer, the home team maintained a reasonable six-point lead. At the 8:57 mark, R-N had a 53-47 advantage.

A quick Rutgers-Camden spurt cut its deficit to one but Barneys responded with a shot from downtown off an inbounds play that sparked an 8-1 run for the home team. The Scarlet Raiders took their largest lead of the night on a pair of Ofray freebies that made it 61-53 with 4:53 remaining.

The Scarlet Raptors would not go away however and cut their deficit back down to three on a driving lay-up. R-N had a response once again in the form of sophomore Tyree Wilson who beat his defender off the dribble and finished a tough lay-in over another defender in the paint to make it 65-60.

With 1:21 on the clock, Barneys tried to one-up his teammate by squeezing through two defenders as the shot clock expired and lofting home a beautiful up-and-under to extend the advantage to seven. The Scarlet Raiders then sealed the win with a gorgeously orchestrated inbounds play, faking a short pass before tossing a hailmary behind the defenders that led to an and-one by Ofray. The junior drained his free throw as well to make 70-62 with just 1:02 remaining as the home team closed out the victory 70-63.

Rutgers-Newark has a short turnaround, hosting Centenary on Monday at 7 p.m. in The Golden Dome.