News Release

CAMDEN, N.J. — Despite its recent improved play, the Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team was still looking to get a big burden off its back entering Saturday’s home New Jersey Athletic Conference game against powerful sister school Rutgers-Newark.
The Scarlet Raptors accomplished that feat with a 65-61 victory over the Scarlet Raiders, snapping an 11-game losing streak and a host of other longer skids.
Rutgers-Camden, which improves to 5-12 overall and 1-5 in the NJAC, had lost 44 consecutive conference games, dating back to a 77-70 win at Montclair State University (Jan. 28, 2004). The Raptors hadn’t won a home game in their last 24 outings, since a 90-85 triumph over Keystone College (Feb. 13, 2004), and they had lost 21 straight home NJAC contests since a 66-65 win over Kean (Jan. 24, 2004).
All that changed Saturday in a game that marked the first time Rutgers-Camden’s new Head Coach Brian Wischusen has coached against his former program. Wischusen served as an assistant at Rutgers-Newark during both the 2003-04 and the 2005-06 seasons.
Rutgers-Camden took a 31-29 halftime lead on a layup by sophomore forward Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) just before the half. The Raptors, who were coming off a pair of tough NJAC losses at Rowan (70-60, Jan. 10) and at home against The College of New Jersey (65-62 in overtime, Jan. 17), never trailed the rest of the way.
Rutgers-Camden increased its margin to 45-35 with 14:35 remaining in the game before the Scarlet Raiders mounted a comeback. Newark (12-4/3-2), which saw its two-game winning streak snapped, cut the gap to 62-61 on a three-point play by freshman forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) with 1:28 remaining.
The Scarlet Raptors, however, made it a three-point game when senior guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) hit a pair of foul shots with 10 seconds left. Nicholson’s shots made it 64-61. After Rutgers-Newark missed the attempt at a game-tying trey, Nicholson tacked on the final point from the foul line.
The Scarlet Raptors’ win snapped a five-game winning streak in the series by Rutgers-Newark, which now holds a 37-32 edge in the all-time battle. The Raptors hadn’t defeated the Raiders since a 54-51 win in Newark Jan. 25, 2003.
Nicholson’s 15 points paced four Scarlet Raptors in double figures. Freshman guard Joshua Askew (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) and senior forward Sydney Francis (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) each notched 14 points, while freshman guard Rory Thornton (Vauxhall, NJ/Union) added 12. Francis also had a game-high eight rebounds for Rutgers-Camden, which was out-rebounded, 40-34.
Sophomore forward Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) had a strong game for the Raptors with seven points, six rebounds, two steals and a game-high five assists.
Sophomore guard Chadd Barnes (Newark, NJ/University) scored a game-high 23 points for the Raiders, while sophomore guard David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) added 10. Cherry and Singleton each had seven boards for Rutgers-Newark.
Rutgers-Newark plays a non-conference road game at 5 p.m. Monday against John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Rutgers-Camden returns to action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. NJAC contest at Kean University.