NEWARK, N.J. (December 19, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team closed the 2015 portion of its schedule in a strong manner, defeating Drew University by a score of 73-59 Saturday afternoon in The Golden Dome Arena.

With the win, the Scarlet Raiders improve to 8-3 on the season and will return to action after the New Year with a non-conference matchup at Arcadia University on January 4. R-N returns to The Dome on January 6 with a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest against Rutgers University-Camden. Drew drops to 4-5 with the loss.

Rutgers-Newark was led by senior guard John Snow who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Leading by three early in the second half, the Scarlet Raiders used a quick-striking 7-0 run to change the game and Drew was never able to recover. Junior forward Olumide Onajide was able to hit 1-of-2 at the line after an offensive rebound from sophomore  center Dave Lunsford to get the rally started, and two Snow free throws after a stop pushed the lead to six (44-38). A jumper from senior forward Jordan McDaniel upped the margin to eight before a steal and layup from Onajide helped Rutgers to its first double-digit lead of the afternoon (48-38) with 12:57 remaining.

Drew received a three-pointer from freshman guard Darius Reiter to cut the Raider lead to seven, but sophomore guard Tyler Ofray hit one of his two second-half three-pointers to answer and push the lead back to 10.

The Rangers would cut the lead to eight on a bucket, but another Ofray triple – this one on a picture-perfect kick-out from Onajide – extended the Rutgers lead back to 11, and Drew could get no closer the rest of the way.

Snow found McDaniel for a pair with 3:34 on the clock to give Rutgers-Newark its largest lead of the game at 66-48, and the Scarlet Raiders cruised the rest of the way.

Snow led the Scarlet Raiders to a 33-31 halftime lead, going 3-for-7 from the field and 7-for-8 at the line for a total of 14 points.

The Rangers opened the game by doubling up the Scarlet Raiders to take a 12-6 lead a little less than six minutes into the game, but 3-of-4 at the line on back-to-back R-N possessions gave the hosts a 15-13 edge. It was the first Rutgers-Newark lead since freshman forward Nobel Berroa made a jumper on the team's first possession of the game.

With the Rangers holding a 25-24 edge, Rutgers-Newark ran off eight-straight points to open a 32-25 margin behind two points apiece from Lunsford, McDaniel, Snow and Onajide. Drew closed the period well, getting a three-pointer late from Reiter and fighting within two (33-31) at the break.

Rutgers-Newark shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field, 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) from three and 25-for-33 (75.8 percent) at the line. R-N dished out 11 assists, recorded nine steals and finished the game plus-16 on the glass (43-27).

McDaniel joined snow in double figures with 18 points, adding six rebounds and two blocked shots to his line, while Onajide had an excellent all-around performance off the bench with nine points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. Ofray had six points and a team-high three assists, while senior forward David Azoroh had six points and four boards.

The Rangers shot 40 percent (22-for-55) from the field, 5-for-20 (25 percent) from three and 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) at the line. Drew had 10 assists and 17 turnovers, getting 16 points from senior guard Kevin Herring II and 11 from junior guard Joey Feinberg.