ECAC Championship Central I R-N Schedule

NEWARK, N.J. (February 27, 2019) – The second-seeded Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team defeated third-seeded Stevenson University in Pod 4 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Basketball Championships First Round action in The Golden Dome, 77-74. The Scarlet Raiders improve to 15-12 and will advance to the ECAC Quarterfinals on Friday afternoon while the Mustangs season comes to a close at 14-13.

Rutgers-Newark was led by junior Chase Barneys who eclipsed 1,000 points for his career on the night, pouring in a team-high 23 points. Barneys went 8-for-15 from the field, including two 3-pointers, in addition to contributing four rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Senior Mark Isiofia-Thomas had a big game as well, scoring 20 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting. Classmate Tyler Ofray rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from inside the arc and from the free throw line. Rookie Xavier Townes added nine points and a team-best five boards off the bench.

The Raiders now head to overall no. 1 seed Hood College in Frederick, Md. where they will face the no. 1 seed in Pod 4, Wilkes University, at 2 p.m.

The visitors pushed the pace the entire first half and shot the lights out, putting the Scarlet Raiders on their heels for most of the period. A close opening 10 and a half minutes featured seven lead changes and three ties as the teams fought for control.

Freshman Xavier Townes had the hosts in front for the last time in the half when he followed his own miss and finished a lay-up while drawing a foul. Townes converted the traditional three-point play to put R-N up 21-19 at the 10:58 mark. Still, the Mustangs responded with an 8-0 run all from Johnny Rhodes who knocked down a jumper and a pair of trifectas. Stevenson would extend its lead to 37-29 on a Cam Harris bucket with 2:23 to play before the break.

The Raiders rallied with six straight points on a pair of Ofray freebies and two Isiofia-Thomas buckets to cut the deficit to 37-35 before Stevenson ended the half with another trey to make it 40-35.

The Mustangs made it tough on a great Newark defense, hitting on 55.2% (16-for-29) of their shots from the field and 46.7% (7-of-15) from beyond the arc. Still, the hosts hung around by going 13-of-27 (48.1%) from the field and 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

The second half featured an incredible 14 lead changes and seven ties as the squads battled back-and-forth all the way to the finish. Rutgers-Newark stormed back to open the period, erasing its five-point halftime deficit with a 10-0 surge. Sophomore Mike Vick and Isiofia-Thomas began the run with back-to-back and-one plays that they both converted. Then Barneys and sophomore Dante Ralph added lay-ups that soon had the home side leading 45-40.

Stevenson would not back down, however, and responded with a quick 5-0 spurt to knot the contest at 45-45 with 16:06 to play. That jumpstarted a see-saw affair that would last until the final two and a half minutes of action.

The Mustangs took their last edge of the night when Montaque Wright pulled up for a jumper in the lane to give his team a slim 67-66 advantage.

From there, the Scarlet Raiders took control. Isiofia-Thomas put the hosts back in front on the next possession, starting an 8-0 run that would send Newark in front for good. Barneys finished a drive in the lane, then Ofray added a pair of freebies before Barneys knocked down two of his own at the stripe that suddenly had the Raiders leading 74-67 with under a minute to play.

Although the visitors never gave up and fought back to within 76-74 on a Wright trifecta with 10 seconds remaining, it would not be enough as Barneys added one more free throw to crack the 1,000-point milestone and helped Rutgers-Newark come away with the hard fought victory.