RAMAPO ADVANCES TO NJAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WHILE OUSTING RUTGERS NEWARK, 61-46
Mahwah, NJ: In the New Jersey Athletic Conference semi-final, number one Ramapo played host to the number four Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers Newark, Wednesday night in front of a raucous hometown crowd at the Bradley Center. The Roadrunners posted a 61-43 victory improving to 22-4 overall advancing to the 2004-2005 championship, while Rutgers Newark falls to 17-10.
TODD LOWBER (Riverside, NJ) opened the game emphatically with a thunderous alley oop dunk from AMIN WRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ). The Roadrunners opened up a 10-2 lead in the following eight minutes capped off by ELIAZAR VELEZ (Jersey City, NJ). Rutgers Newark climbed back into the game behind Chinedu Ibeh's (Colonia, NJ) eight points and six rebounds, 16-14. The last six minutes of the first half belonged to Ramapo as they outscored Rutgers Newark nine to zero, ending the first half with a 25-14 lead. The 14 points were the Scarlet Raiders lowest first half output of the season.
LOWBER led Ramapo with five first half points, while recently crowned two time NJAC Defensive Player of the Year WRIGHT notched his 1,000th career point, plus four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Manny Rios (Newark, NJ) posted seven first half rebounds for the Scarlet Raiders.
Ramapo came out firing in the second half, opening up a 34-20 lead with 14:43 remaining in the game. Following a missed LOWBER dunk, the Scarlet Raiders crept back into the game, closing the Roadrunners lead to seven, 37-30, with 12 minutes remaining in the game. That was the closest Rutgers Newark would come, as Ramapo closed the game on a 17 to eight run, winning 61-46. The 46 points was Rutgers Newark's second lowest output of the season, second only to the 44 the Roadrunners held them to in their second meeting of the season.
The Scarlet Raiders were led by Jermont Horton (Irvington, NJ) with 15 points and Rios with ten rebounds. Ibeh chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss. LOWBER and RASHAWN WILSON (Jersey City, NJ) led the Roadrunners with 14 points apiece. WRIGHT posted six points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Ramapo outscored the Scarlet Raiders by twelve points at the line, and ten points in the paint.
The #1 Roadrunners will host the #2 Ospreys of Richard Stockton College on Friday, February 25th at 7:00 PM in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Game.