News Release

CAMDEN, NJ — – Senior guard Gene Mergenthal (Sicklerville, NJ/Highland) scored 23 points and added 11 assists, and freshman guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) added a career-high 21 points to lift the Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team over Keystone College, 90-85, in a non-conference game here Friday night.
The Raptors improved to 5-18 and snapped a five-game losing streak despite a remarkable performance by Keystone junior forward Destin Scott (Akron, OH/Buchtel), who notched game-high totals of 33 points (on 12-for-19 shooting) and 14 rebounds. The 14 rebounds raised his career total to 644, setting a new school record for the Giants. He passed the old mark of 633 held by former teammate Lamont Jones (2000-2003).
In a tight game which saw four ties and four lead changes in each half, the Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good, 81-80, on a layup by Mergenthal, which was part of a six-point late-game run. The Raptors built an 87-82 lead before Keystone’s sophomore forward Andre Stone (Akron, OH/Akron Central-Hower) drained a three-pointer to cut the gap to 87-85, but foul shots by junior guard Tyrone Rucker (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) and Nicholson iced the victory.
Mergenthal’s 11 assists, one shy of his career high, raised his season total to 109 as he became only the second player in program history to notch a pair of 100-assist seasons. He had 110 last year. Mergenthal joins Dan McClain, who accomplished the feat during the 1990-91 and 1992-93 seasons, on the select list. McClain, the program’s all-time leader with 348 assists, is the only Rutgers-Camden player with more career assists than Mergenthal’s 314.
Nicholson, meanwhile, broke his previous career scoring high of 20 points, set against SUNY-Farmingdale Dec. 1.
The Raptors also received 18 points from senior guard Jonathan Jean-Louis (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) and 12 points from junior forward Mike Hopson (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester).
Mergenthal had nine rebounds – barely missing a triple-double – to pace the team, while Nicholson added eight.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Giants (8-17), who received 13 points from Stone and 13 rebounds from sophomore forward Robert Cash (Pittsburgh, PA/Westinghouse), in addition to Scott’s huge performance.
It was the Raptors’ second win of the year against Keystone, including an 80-77 overtime thriller in La Plume, PA, Dec. 17.
Rutgers-Camden plays its final home game Wednesday at 7 p.m. against New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Montclair State University. The Scarlet Raptors close their season Feb. 21 with a 3 p.m. game at The College of New Jersey.