POMONA, NJ – Rutgers-Newark senior point guard
Tim Smith had 17 points and four assists, but Richard Stockton held off a second-half Scarlet Raider rally to take an 86-73 win in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship semifinals in the RSC Sports Center.
Richard Stockton 86, Rutgers-Newark 73
The defending champion Ospreys (20-6) now must take on top-seeded William Paterson (24-2), a 55-37 winner over Ramapo in tonight’s other semifinal contest, in Wayne at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Scarlet Raiders (20-7) saw hopes for their first NCAA Championship Tournament berth damaged. The loss snapped a 7-game Rutgers-Newark winning streak.
Freshman guard
Al-Don Muhammad came off the bench for a career-high 14 points and five assists, but Stockton pulled away in the final minutes as foul trouble took its toll on the Raiders. The Ospreys made 37 of 50 free throws to spell the difference as the Raiders made just 12 of 20 from the charity stripe.
Senior forwards
Phil Barnes and
Deshawn Singleton as well as high-scoring senior guard
James Johnson fouled out of the contest. Barnes finished with a game-high 11 rebounds and eight points while Singleton notched 10 rebounds and seven points. Johnson was limited to just 10 points.
Six Ospreys reached double figures led by guard Pat Kelly who scored 12 of his game-high 19 points as Stockton took a 35-25 lead to the locker room at the half. Kelly dropped in four of six 3-point shots in the opening stanza to put Stockton in control of the contest.
In the second half senior guard Santini Lancioni made 12 of 16 free throws and scored 15 of his 16 points as the Ospreys made 31 of 40 free throws in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory. Forward Omar Smith finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Stockton while senior guard Kai Massaquoi notched 13 points, four assists and three steals. Lancioni also had eight rebounds and five assists.
A dunk by reserve forward Michael Farrow, who finished with 11 points, gave the Ospreys a 53-38 lead with10:49 left, but the Raiders had one last gasp.
Barnes had the final six points in a 12-1 spurt which trimmed the deficit to 54-50 with 6:39 left.
But the Ospreys scored six of their points at the free throw line as they answered with an 8-0 rally to regain control at 62-50 with 4:48 remaining. The Raiders then began fouling to get back into the fray, but Stockton made 21 of 27 free throws in the final 4:14 to ice the decision.