News Release

CAMDEN, NJ — The Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team roared back from a 13-point
second-half deficit and went on to stun the nation’s 23rd-ranked team, Kean University, 66-65, in a New
Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Scarlet Raptors, who improve to 3-13 overall
and 1-5 in the conference. Kean, which had won 10 of its last 11 games, falls to 14-3 and 3-3. The
Cougars were ranked No. 23 in the latest d3hoops.com Division III national poll.
After trailing 41-32 at halftime and by as many as 48-35 in the second half, the Raptors went on
a 17-0 run, sparked by eight points from freshman guard/forward Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville,
NJ/Holy Spirit), four points from junior forward Mike Hopson (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester), a big
three-pointer from freshman guard Tim Genovese (Erial, NJ/Baptist) and a jumper by senior guard
Gene Mergenthal (Sicklerville, NJ/Highland).
Nicholson hit a foul shot to tie the game at 48-48 and two more free throws to put the Raptors
ahead for good, 50-48, with 10:20 remaining.
Rutgers-Camden stretched its lead to seven points (62-55) with 2:58 remaining before the
Cougars mounted a comeback behind a jumper from sophomore forward BJ Hamby (Bridgewater,
NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) and a three-pointer by freshman forward Bryan Keller (Piscataway,
NJ/Piscataway).
That cut the gap to 62-60, and after a three-pointer by the Raptors’ junior guard Tyrone Rucker
(Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken), Kean bounced right back on a trey by junior guard Tan Kesler
(Istanbul, Turkey), making the score 65-63 with 26 seconds remaining.
Hopson hit a foul shot with nine seconds left, and Keller’s try for a game-tying trey missed with
two seconds remaining. It was tapped in by Kesler as time expired.
Nicholson scored 18 points off the bench for the Raptors, leading five players in double figures.
Mergenthal finished with 12 points, Rucker notched 11 and senior guard/forward Jonathan Jean-Louis
(North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) and Hopson each added 10.
Hopson and Nicholson also had 10 rebounds apiece to finish with double-doubles, while
Mergenthal had a game-high eight assists.
For the Cougars, Kesler notched 18 points, while sophomore forward Armet Coles (Staten
Island, NY/St. Peter’s) had 14 and junior forward Matt Horton (Paterson, NJ/DePaul) added 12.
Sophomore forward B.J. Hamby (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) tied Hopson and Nicholson
for rebounding honors with 10.
Coles paced the Cougars with five assists.
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. NJAC game at Montclair State
University.