ECAC Release I Bracket

Live Stats I Video

#2 R-N Schedule I Stats

#3 Stevenson Schedule I Stats

NEWARK, N.J. (February 26, 2018) – Tomorrow night the Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team will host the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship Tournament in The Golden Dome at 7 p.m. against Stevenson University.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children, seniors, and students with ID while all Rutgers-Newark students, staff, and faculty with ID can attend for FREE.

The ECAC switched to a national tournament in 2016 from a regional format so 15 teams were selected for postseason competition yesterday and broken into four pods. The Scarlet Raiders (13-12) earned the no. 2 seed in Pod 4 and will host the Mustangs (14-12) who were slotted in as the no. 3. Top-seed Wilkes University and fourth-seeded Brooklyn College round out the pod.

This matchup marks Newark's return to the postseason after a two year hiatus with the program's last appearance coming in the regional version of this tournament in 2015-16.

SEASON RECAP
Rutgers-Newark had an up-and-down regular season as the team went 7-0 in non-conference play but just 6-12 in a very competitive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) that saw three teams selected to the NCAA Tournament on Monday.

In non-league action, the Raiders hosted and defeated Marywood University at their bi-annual John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic, 63-52. The Pacers received the no. 2 seed in Pod 3 of this tournament.

R-N had a rough go of it in NJAC competition, seeing 11 of their 12 losses come by seven points or fewer. The Scarlet Raiders hung tight with all three of the league's NCAA teams, especially in The Golden Dome with heartbreaking defeats of 64-62 to NJCU and 77-71 in overtime to Rowan.

Still, Rutgers-Newark also managed big wins on its home floor against TCNJ (63-62) and Montclair State (67-58), squads that finished third and sixth in the NJAC, respectively.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
The Scarlet Raiders calling card all campaign has been their defense. R-N is tops in the NJAC in scoring defense, allowing just 62.7 points per game. They are also first in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.9%) and second in field goal percentage defense (40.6%).

Even while forcing opponents into a bevy of missed shots, the Raiders still maintain the second best rebounding defense as well.

On the offensive side, when Rutgers-Newark can get to the charity stripe they make foes pay with the second-best free throw shooting percentage in the league (76.8%).

PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Scarlet Raiders feature a dangerous trio in seniors Mark Isiofia-Thomas, Tyler Ofray, and junior Chase Barneys. Isiofia-Thomas was named to the second team All-NJAC following a season that saw him finish fifth in the league in minutes played (33.2 per game), seventh in rebounding (6.4 per game), and 10th in scoring (14.8 per game).

Ofray also had a career year, finishing third in the NJAC in minutes played with 33.6 per contest. The veteran guard racked up career-highs of 13.5 points (third on R-N), 5.6 rebounds (second on R-N), 3.7 assists (first on R-N), and 1.2 steals (second on R-N) per game. In addition, Ofray led the NJAC with a fantastic 89.5% shooting from the free throw line on 114 attempts.

Barneys cracked the top-10 in conference scoring, completing his regular season with 15.6 points per game, good for eighth. The junior guard led the squad in scoring as well as 3-point shooting, hitting on 36.6% of his 6.1 attempts per contest.

STEVENSON
The Mustangs enter this matchup out of the MAC Commonwealth and off of a tough 78-77 loss at the hands of Albright in the first round of the conference tournament. Stevenson features a trio of double-digit scorers in Cameron Hayes (14.9 ppg), Tim McNeal (10.9 ppg), and Cliff Cornish (10.0 ppg). McNeal also leads the squad with 7.6 rebounds per game while Michael Byrd has a team-high 2.4 assists per contest.