Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Rutgers-Newark battled for 40 minutes but could not overcome icy shooting in the first half in an 84-72 loss to host Christopher Newport in the NCAA D-III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament opening round in the Freeman Center.

Sophomore swingman Christian Garcia netted 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and sophomore guard Doze Ikwuegbu poured in all 14 of his after intermission as the Scarlet Raiders (20-8) whittled a 21-point deficit to 81-72 in the final minute.

Senior forward Hussein Abdelmaksoud hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds and dished off four assists to lead the Raiders inside, but he netted just six points as only Garcia and Ikwuegbu reached double digits.  Senior guard Al'Don Muhammad netted eight points while senior forward Fateen Belfield finished with seven points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Sophomore forward Nik Biberaj made nine of 11 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws to tally a game-high 22 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking three shots for the Captains (22-5).  CNU put five players in double figures with junior guard Tra Benefield netting 16; freshman forward Evan Thorpe, 14; sophomore guard Mike Cherry, 13; and freshman forward Connor Laframboise, 12.  Thorpe also snared eight rebounds as the Captains edged the Raiders on the glass, 42-41.

Rutgers-Newark shot just 26.7% (8-30) from the floor and 54.5% (6-11) from the free throw line in the opening period when three wild swings dominated the action.

Biberaj netted eight points and Thorpe, seven, as the Captains reeled off an 18-6 run to take an 18-8 lead less than seven minutes into the contest.  The Raiders answered with a 12-2 run to knot the score at 20-20 10 minutes later with Abdelmaksoud, Muhammad, Belfield and freshman reserve guard Rahim Bunch chipping in three points apiece.  Then reserve guard Laframboise nailed a pair of treys during a 17-4 closing run by the Captains capped by a Benefield layup  which staked CNU to a 37-24 halftime edge.

Rutgers-Newark trailed by double digits most of the second half before a furious 20-11 rally fueled by 10 points, including a pair of 3-point jumpers, from Ikwuegbu and seven points from Garcia reduced the deficit to nine points with 24 seconds remaining.

Ultimately, the Raiders lost the game at the foul line.  Rutgers-Newark connected on just 13 of 22 free throws while the Captains drained 25 of 35 to give them the margin of victory.

The loss caps an outstanding campaign by the Scarlet Raiders who posted their best New Jersey Athletic Conference record in program history (13-5) and won 20 games in a season for the second time in head coach Joe Loughran's 12-year tenure.  The at-large NCAA berth was the second in the last four seasons for the Raiders.