The victory evens the Scarlet Raptors’ record at 1-1 and gives first-year Head Coach Brian Wischusen a memorable first win at Rutgers-Camden. The victory also is memorable for another reason, giving the Raptors their first .500 record since they were 1-1 after beating Penn State-Altoona on November 24, 2002.
In the championship game, host Alvernia College used 28 points from tournament MVP Garrett Etzel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) to post a 71-62 victory over Baldwin-Wallace, which was ranked sixth nationally in the d3hoops.com pre-season poll.
Rutgers-Camden senior Sydney Francis (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) joined Baldwin-Wallace sophomore Andrew Bene (Hinkley, OH/Medina Highland), Curry freshman Sherard Robbins (Malden, MA/Malden) and the Alvernia trio of Etzel, freshman Matt King (Phoenixville, PA/St. Pius X) and senior Ryan Finger (Lancaster, PA/Lampeter Strasburg) on the All-Tournament Team.
Curry held a 51-41 lead with 3:13 left to play following a layup by Robbins, but the Colonels (0-2) committed four turnovers and missed three free throws down the stretch to relinquish the lead. Rutgers-Camden pulled within one point on back-to-back jumpers from sophomore Wayne Smalls (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts). Following a Colonel turnover, McCloskey went to the line to give the Raptors the lead, 52-51. Sophomore Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) hit 1-of-2 from the line with one second left for the two-point win.
The two teams combined for 35 turnovers in the opening half. Curry opened with a turnover off the jump ball and Dane Nicholson’s (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) jumper at 19:13 was the only bucket in the first 3:38.
Rutgers-Camden held a seven-point lead twice in the early going. The Raptors pushed the margin to a dozen points, 22-10, with 5:43 left in the half. Curry cut it down to six points with a 6-0 run and Nicholson scored the final bucket of the half for a 26-18 Rutgers-Camden lead at the break.
The teams traded buckets for the start of the second half before Curry cut the lead down to two points with a quick 5-0 spurt and eventually tied the game at 36-all on a Toby Brittian (Providence, RI/Tabor Academy) layup. Robbins hit a pair of free throws and a jumper to put Curry up four, 40-36, and after Smalls hit a trey to take the lead back, Curry ran off 11 straight points ending in Robbins’ layup with 3:13 to play.
The Scarlet Raptors play an 8 p.m. non-conference game at Valley Forge Christian College Tuesday.