Box Score

NJAC Championship Tournament Bracket

GLASSBORO, NJ – The Rowan University men’s basketball team had an 88-76 victory over Rutgers-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game on Wednesday night.

It was the final game of the regular season for both teams.  The Profs are 12-13 overall and 5-8 in the conference.  Rowan is the third seed from the South Division in the NJAC Championship Tournament and will travel to Ramapo College, the second seed from the North Division, for the first round on Saturday, February 18 at 7 p.m.  The Scarlet Raptors finish the season with a 4-21 record and a 1-12 conference mark.

Rowan was led by guard Rich McNamara (so. Southampton, NJ/Seneca) with 21 points and eight rebounds.  Guard Phil Jackson (so. Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) totaled 18 points and a season-high 11 boards.  Guard Kendall White (jr. Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Reg.) scored 15 points and forward Jason Sofman (so. West Milford, NJ/West Milford) had 11 off the bench.  Guard Jason Rosenberg (so. Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) collected nine points and 10 assists.

For Rutgers-Camden, forward Mike Payne (so. Trenton, NJ/Conwell-Egan Catholic) registered a game-high 23 points.  Guard Woody Redding (so. Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic) compiled 19 points and nine assists, giving him 156 for the year.  He surpassed the school single-season record of 153 assists by Dan McClain (1992-93).  Guard Kyle Bowman (so. Camden, NJ/Collingswood) added 14 points and nine boards.  Forward Michael Williams (so. Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill W.) and guard James Coleman (jr. Woodbine, NJ/Cape May Tech) contributed with 10 and nine points respectively.

The Profs were ahead, 43-34 at halftime.  Jackson’s layup at 16:23 put Rowan on top, 55-43.  Rutgers-Camden went on a 13-4 run to pull within three (59-56) at 13:54.  Bowman tallied seven points, while Redding and Payne each had three.  The Scarlet Raptors trailed by two (61-59) following a layup and free throw by Payne at 11:53.  The Profs scored the next six points to push the advantage to eight (67-59) at 9:15.  Jackson posted three of the six points.

Rutgers-Camden came with five (67-62) after a free throw by Williams (8:57) and a jumper by Payne (8:25).  Coleman scored a basket at 6:47 to trail by four (68-64).  Rowan had a 10-1 surge to pull ahead, 78-65 with 3:31 remaining.  Guard Matt Whitworth (so. Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) tallied five points, Sofman had four and McNamara sunk a foul shot.  Payne hit a layup (2:56) and Coleman made two free throws (2:25) to bring the Scarlet Raptors within nine (78-69).  White’s layup and foul shot with 1:23 on the clock gave Rowan its largest lead of the game, 15 points (86-71).  Payne compiled 12 points in the second half, while Redding had 10.

Rowan started the game with an 8-2 spurt over the first 2:51.  The game was tied (8-8) after  baskets by Williams (16:40), Bowman (16:13) and Redding (15:09).  There were four more ties in the first period.  White’s layup at 5:38 made the score, 25-25.  He completed the three-point play with a foul shot to put the Profs on top by one (26-25).

Payne’s layup and free throw at 4:52 cut the deficit to one (29-28).  Jackson had back-to-back baskets at 4:25 and 3:43 to extend the advantage to five (33-28).  Redding converted two foul shots at 2:14 to come within three (37-34).  Rowan closed out the half with six consecutive points for a 43-34 lead at the break.  McNamara nailed a three-pointer (2:00), White made two free throws (1:28) and center Dee Benson (so. Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) added one (:37).  McNamara totaled 16 points in the period, while Payne had 11.