News Release

EWING, NJ - — Sophomore forward Scott Findlay (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris) scored 13 of his 15 points and grabbed eight of his 13 rebounds in the first half to stake The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team to a 17-point halftime lead, and the Lions went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 87-63, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.
It was the seventh straight win for the Lions, 17-8 overall and 7-6 in the NJAC, who will host a conference playoff game Tuesday at 7 p.m. against either Kean University or Richard Stockton College.
The Raptors end their season at 5-19 overall and 2-10 in the NJAC.
Finlay scored eight of the Lions’ first 11 points as TCNJ took an 11-5 lead after the Raptors held their lone lead of the day at 3-2. Rutgers-Camden never came closer than five points (14-9) the rest of the way.
By halftime, TCNJ held a 41-24 lead as Finlay had 13 points and junior guard Derick Grant (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) had 10. Finlay also notched eight first-half rebounds, while junior center Derek Brown (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains) added seven.
For the Raptors, junior guard Sean Smith (Mt. Holly, NJ/Burlington Township) had seven first-half points on his way to 10.
Senior guard Gene Mergenthal (Sicklerville, NJ/Highland) had a huge second-half outburst to finish with a career-high 28 points for the Scarlet Raptors. Playing in his final Rutgers-Camden game, Mergenthal scored 23 points in the second half as he passed his career high of 27, scored at Philadelphia Biblical University Feb. 5.
Mergenthal finished his four-year Raptor career with 895 points, 317 assists (second in the school record books) and 150 steals (second all-time). He completed his senior year with 112 assists (the fifth-highest single-season total in program history) and 64 steals (fourth highest).
Junior guard Mike Snyder (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) finished with a team-high 19 points for the Lions, including 15 in the second half. Junior guards Grant and Kyle Burke (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) added 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Lions. Sophomore center Jody Crowley (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) collected 12 points and nine rebounds. Brown also finished with nine rebounds, while Burke added eight.
TCNJ held a commanding 59-34 advantage off the boards. The Lions shot 45.2 percent from the floor (33-for-73), while the Raptors were only 27.5 (19-for-69)
In addition to Mergenthal and Sean Smith, the Raptors received 11 points from junior forward Mike Hopson (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester). Freshman guard/forward Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) led the team with seven rebounds.