Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD – A late Rutgers-Newark surge fell short as Hood College posted a 71-63 win in the opening game of the Blue Jay Invitational in Johns Hopkins' Goldfarb Gym.

Senior guards Greg Moore and Pedro Burgos netted 16 points apiece, but the Scarlet Raiders (7-5) could not overcome a double-digit second-half deficit against the Blazers (7-4). 

R-N now faces CCNY (1-11) in tomorrow's consolation game at 5 p.m.  The Beavers fell to host Johns Hopkins in the nightcap setting up a rematch for the Raiders and CCNY.  R-N downed the Beavers, 62-52, in December 22 in New York.

Moore added six rebounds and a game-high four steals while Burgos came off the bench to net three of his four 3-point baskets in the second half when the Raiders whittled a 10-point deficit to four points in the final minute.  Burgos' final trey made it 67-63 with 30 seconds remaining, but Hood senior guard Ramon Smith dropped in four free throws in the final 25 seconds to settle the decision.

Junior guard Al'Don Muhammad added nine points, a game-high six assists and two steals for R-N while senior swingman Jeremiah Rivers hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds to offset just four points.

Freshman swingman Christian Garcia and junior center Hussein Abdelmaksoud netted eight points apiece for the Raiders. Garcia added four rebounds and two assists while Abdelmaksoud pulled down five rebounds.

Smith finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists while senior forward Lavar Rich hit seven of eight shots from the floor on his way to a game-high 21 points plus six rebounds and a pair of assists.  Sophomore forward Cameron Cook connected on six of nine field goals to total 16 points and five rebounds in the balanced Blazer attack.  Junior swingman Trey Quinn added 13 points and five rebounds for Hood.

Muhammad had four points and Moore made all three free throws after getting fouled on a shot from beyond the arc as Rutgers-Newark opened the second half with a 7-1 run to knot the score at 34-34 with 17:47 left.  The Raiders never got the lead.

Cook netted nine points while beginning and ending the decisive 16-6 run which staked Hood to a 50-40 lead with 12:01 remaining.  A jump shot by Smith with 3:47 left gave the Blazers a 64-54 lead, setting the stage for the Raiders' final surge.

Cook nailed a pair of treys and scored eight points as the Blazers raced out to a 17-7 lead in the opening eight minutes while the Raiders committed seven turnovers and made just three of nine shots to start the night.

Burgos and Moore sandwiched 3-point jumpers around a basket by Rich to cut the R-N deficit to 31-27 with 2:22 left in the half, but the Raiders would not score again in the period.  A dunk by Rich at 1:43 produced the only points either team could muster as the Blazers took a 6-point lead into intermission.

In the first 20 minutes, Moore had netted nine points by hitting three of five from beyond the arc to keep R-N within striking distance.  But, Rich hit all five of his field goal tries and Cook went 4-for-4 with a pair of treys to boost Hood's field goal percentage to 51.9 (14-27).

Following tomorrow's consolation game, Rutgers-Newark visits The College of New Jersey for a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's and men's doubleheader on Saturday.  The women tip off at 1 p.m. with the men's game set for 3 o'clock.