GLASSBORO, NJ - The Rutgers-Newark men's basketball team held on to its first-half lead to take down Rowan University on the road, 70-67.
Rowan scored first to take an early 4-0 lead after a layup and jumper by Khalif Meares. A couple of Essam Assaf free throws put an end to that and Shy'Heed Jenkins drove to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 4-4 with 18:13 on the clock.
The Scarlet Raiders eased into the lead as their offense used good ball movement and shot selection to stay ahead of the Profs.
Rutgers-Newark led by as many as 12 points with 27 seconds left to go in the first half at 40-28. The Scarlet Raiders took a 40-31 lead into halftime after shooting 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range.
Coming out of the break, Levi Holton caught an alley-oop from Jenkins-Floyd to get the scoring started. The Profs decided to slow the Scarlet Raiders down with a 10-0 run that brought them to within one point at 42-41.
That would be as close as the Profs would get as the rest of the ball game saw both teams trade baskets. The game looked even on the stat sheet in the second half, but it was the 16 second chance points that the Scarlet Raiders capitalized on that was the difference. The home team never got to within one point again no matter how hard they tried, and the Scarlet Raiders added another W to the win column.
Rutgers-Newark (7-17, 3-14 NJAC) was led in scoring by Holton who had 22 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double and 10th this season. Jenkins-Floyd had 14 points, Travis Miles added 13 points, and Essam Asaaf tallied 13 points to round out the top scorers for the Scarlet Raiders.
The Scarlet Raiders shot 46.3 percent from the floor, 40 percent from behind the arc, and 73.7 percent from the free throw line.
Meares had a game-high 29 points shooting 10 of 16 from the floor, in addition to eight steals for Rowan (12-12, 908 NJAC). Tyrese Myrick scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. The Profs shot 43.9 percent from the floor, 17.6 percent from three-point range, and 82.4 percent from the free throw line.
The Raiders return home on Wednesday, Feb. 19 against Kean University in game two of the doubleheader with the women. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. with Senior Day recognition to occur before the game.
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