NEWARK, N.J. (February 11, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team suffered an 86-73 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) loss at the hands of Rowan University Saturday night in The Golden Dome.
Rutgers-Newark – who was eliminated from the NJAC Playoff picture earlier in the day due to a Montclair State University win – drops to 6-11 in the NJAC and 7-17 overall, while Rowan improves to 11-6 in the conference and 16-8 overall. R-N will look to end the season with a conference upset at The College of New Jersey Wednesday night as the Lions will be playing for a first round bye in the league tournament.
Prior to the game, Rutgers-Newark honored its lone senior in forward
Nadir Alston who joined the program this season. Alston came into the game leading the NJAC in blocked shots (30) and was third in rebounds per game at 8.2.
Three early three-pointers from freshman forward
Landon Gaines had the Scarlet Raiders off and running with a 13-7 lead. Junior forward
Jared Pearson tallied one of his two early hoops off the bench to put Newark back up by six after Rowan had rallied, but the Profs would regain the lead moments later.
Pearson continued his strong first half with four-straight points to put Newark back in front at 24-22 with 6:57 left in the first, and again the Profs responded, this time with an 8-1 run, forcing a Raider timeout.
After the TO, Rutgers battled within one on the back of a nice run keyed by a Barneys three-pointer, but a pair of late long balls from the Profs gave the guests a 39-34 lead at the break.
After sophomore guard Rob DePersia hit a three-pointer to put the Profs up 12 early in the second, Barneys, Thomas and Alston keyed a furious rally to get the Scarlet Raiders within three (56-53). Rowan was able to counter, scoring six-straight points to get the lead back to nine with 11:58 left.
Triples from senior forward Shawn Wilson and freshman guard Jeff Haddock helped Rowan take a 14-point lead with 8:20 on the clock, and despite getting within nine points following a three-pointer from Barneys with 96 seconds to go, Rowan remained in control for the balance to pick up the NJAC road win.
Barneys finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and two assists, scoring 20 or more for the fourth time in his last six games. Thomas had 16 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists, and Gaines finished with 15 points, eight boards and two assists. Pearson led the way off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Alston dished out a team-high four assists.
R-N finished the game shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 30 percent from three-point range and 13-for-16 at the line. The Scarlet Raiders held a 40-38 margin on the glass and totaled 14 assists on 27 made baskets. They racked up 30 points in the paint and 20 second-chance tallies on 17 offensive rebounds.
Rowan shot 42.4 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from three and 22-for-25 at the line, pouring in 25 points off turnovers and getting 31 scores off the bench. Wilson led the way with 27 points and three rebounds and DePersia had 15 points, five assists and three rebounds.
