NEWARK, NJ | The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team has fallen on hard times as they've now lost three in a row. Tonight, the Scarlet Raiders fell just short of sweeping the Roadrunners as they fell 57-54 in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play. 

Rutgers University-Newark (10-7, 6-4) has seen its season take a 180 after a promising start. After beating Ramapo by three in Mahwah, NJ the Roadrunners returned the favor by winning by three tonight. Chase Barneys and Jamir Patterson led the team in the scoring category by tallying 15 points each while Quincy Rutherford finished with 14 on 50% shooting. Mike Vick notched two points and led the team with eight rebounds.

Ramapo College (10-7, 6-4) was led by Marquise Kindel as he scored a game-high 16 points while also leading the team with 9 rebounds. Connor Romano scored 10 points and led the team with a pair of blocks. Rob McWilliams came into the game needing 19 points for his 1,000th career point and the Scarlet Raiders held him to 13 on 5-of-13 shooting. 

The Roadrunners would benefit early in the game from four free throw attempts after the Scarlet Raiders recorded back-to-back technical fouls which put Ramapo up 7-2 early on. Rutgers University-Newark kept it close and even cut the lead down to three when Patterson broke free inside for a layup. After Ramapo pushed their lead back out to five, Patterson answered with a three to bring it down to just a pair.

A 5-0 run by Ramapo would separate the teams further but did not put the game out of reach. After going back-and-forth, Ramapo began to gain momentum and eventually took a 10-point lead after a Manny Warren triple. The Scarlet Raiders zoned in to prevent the Roadrunners from going on a large run and they would head into the locker room down 10.

The second half was more of the same from the first stanza with both teams playing solid defense and forcing each other to take low-percentage shots. After trailing by 6+ points for the majority of the second half, Barneys began to take over. Barneys in the front end of a pair of free-throws then followed that up with a deep three to cut the lead down to two. 

Ramapo extended their lead back out to eight during the next two minutes. Free-throws by the Scarlet Raiders brought the lead down to a manageable three with just 1:29 left on the clock. With 48 seconds left, Barneys hit a jumper which was followed up by a missed layup on the other end which allowed Rutgers-Newark to have a chance to tie the game up. 

With just 22 seconds remaining, the Scarlet Raiders rushed up the court and tried to get Barneys open from behind the arc. Rutherford would eventually break free and was forced to take a contested three-pointer as time dwindled down. Rutherford's attempt would hit the back of the rim and into the hands of Patterson. Patterson tried to get the and-one play but his layup didn't find the net as the Scarlet Raiders fell in a nailbiter at home. 

Up next for the Scarlet Raiders is a rematch against The College of New Jersey on Saturday, January 25.