NEWARK, N.J. (January 5, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team saw a late second half rally come up just short in a 62-60 defeat against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe Rutgers University-Camden in The Golden Dome tonight. The Scarlet Raiders fall to 7-6 (1-6 NJAC) while the Scarlet Raptors improve to 2-12 (2-5 NJAC).

Senior Mark Isiofia-Thomas led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers. Junior Chase Barneys joined him in double-figures with 17 points on a tough shooting night. Senior Tyler Ofray nearly notched a double-double with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Ofray and sophomore Mike Vick shared team-best honors with four assists.

The Raiders return to action on Monday for their last non-conference matchup of the season at FDU-Florham with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.

In the first half, Rutgers-Newark struggled from the field shooting just 9-of-32 (28.1%) but hung around. After two early lead changes and one tie, Rutgers-Camden built up a 26-17 advantage with 1:44 to play before the half.

The Scarlet Raiders fought back as Vick followed his own miss with a lay-in before Barneys drained a 3-pointer off a designed play to make it a more manageable 26-22 deficit at the break.

R-N came out of the locker rooms riding that momentum and scored the first six points of the second half to take its first lead since the 15:24 mark of the first stanza. Barneys knocked down a jumper while Isiofia-Thomas converted two consecutive baskets to produce a slim 28-26 lead.

The sides had four lead changes and three deadlocks over the next three minutes as the Scarlet Raptors eventually claimed a 34-33 advantage on a 3-pointer with 15:17 remaining.

From there, the visitors would expand their edge to double-figures, claiming a 54-44 lead at the 8:07 mark while the margin reached 13 with 3:45 on the clock.

The Raiders had a furious rally in the final minutes and cut that 13-point deficit down to five after an 8-0 surge. Isiofia-Thomas sandwiched two fastbreak dunks around a tip-in by sophomore Quincy Rutherford before Ofray chipped in a pair of free throws that made it 59-54 with 42 seconds remaining.

The Raptors added two freebies to extend their lead back to seven but R-N got an immediate response as Isiofia-Thomas drained a clutch trifecta to cut the deficit to four.

A full-court press produced a much-needed turnover for the Newark defense and Barneys made it count on the offensive end. The junior guard sliced inside and hit a tough lay-up while absorbing contact to cut the deficit to just two. Barneys then completed the and-one, making it 61-60 with 10 seconds on the clock.

On the other end, Adam Perry missed the first but hit his second free throw to give R-C a little bit of breathing room with a little under seven ticks remaining.

Unfortunately, the home team's rally would come up inches short as Barneys could not find the mark with a last gasp 3-point attempt.