Madison, NJ — Rutgers–Newark came out firing on Wednesday night, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the opening half, but FDU-Florham gradually seized momentum and held it the rest of the way as the Scarlet Raiders fell 73–69 on the road.

The Raiders opened the game with energy on both ends, pushing the pace and knocking down early shots to build a 10-point advantage. The Devils settled in and eventually tied the game at 29-29 with 3:55 left in the half. A couple of threes to close the half by Mac Creek gave FDU-Florham the 35-32 lead going into halftime 

The second half saw the Devils maintain steady control, leaning on the hot shooting of Creek, who finished with a game-high 27 points and five three-pointers. FDU-Florham pushed its lead to nine with 3:41 left in the half before the Scarlet Raiders attempted their comeback. Three late threes from Ayden Brown cut the lead down to three but with 15 seconds left Rutgers-Newark ran out of time to complete the comeback. 

Brown led the Scarlet Raiders with 20 points and six rebounds while freshman guard Raheem Murray delivered 16 points and Steven Rodriguez added 13 points and five assists.

The Scarlet Raiders will look to get back on track as they travel to Connecticut next Tuesday, November 25th for a matchup with Albertus Magnus College.