GLASSOBORO, N.J. (January 16, 2016) – Senior guard John Snow scored a career-high 42 points to lead the Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team to a 93-89 come-from-behind win at New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival Rowan University Saturday afternoon.
Snow had a remarkably efficient game, going 14-for-21 from the floor and 12-for-17 at the line. The veteran Scarlet Raider added six rebounds, two assists and three steals, hitting countless big-time shots for the Raiders.
Snow's performance marks the third-straight game in which the Scarlet Raiders have received 30 or more points from a single player as senior forward Jordan McDaniel poured in 32 the last two games, including his 1,000th career-point Wednesday night in an OT win over Ramapo College.
The Scarlet Raiders have now won four-straight games in the NJAC and improve to 7-2 in the conference and 12-4 overall. Rowan drops to 6-10 overall and 3-6 in the NJAC. R-N has won five of its last six overall and will battle conference rival New Jersey City University Wednesday night in Jersey City (8 p.m.). NJCU and R-N are the top-two teams in the NJAC standings.
Trailing by 16 midway through the first half, Rutgers-Newark fought within six at the break before leaping in front of the Profs in the second half. Trailing 47-40 with 18:31 left, the Scarlet Raiders turned the tables with a 19-6 run to open a 59-53 lead with a shade under 13 minutes to go. Snow and McDaniel started the run with two free throws, and five-straight Snow points gave the Scarlet Raiders their first lead of the half at (48-47). A three-pointer from senior guard Ricky Stephens and a pair at the line from McDaniel helped the Raiders to a four-point margin, with a Snow put-back ending the run.
Rowan fought within three points at several junctures, but Rutgers-Newark had the answers, getting big shots from senior forward David Azoroh, Stephens and Snow.
After going down nine (86-75) with 1:11 remaining, Rowan extended the game by fouling and was able to get within three points (92-89) at the 10 second mark, but a McDaniel free throw iced the win.
The Scarlet Raiders opened an early 5-2 lead, getting two from Snow and a three-point-play from McDaniel, but a 9-7 lead turned into a 20-12 deficit thanks to a 13-3 run for the hosts over a span of 2:26.
Rutgers-Newark slowed the momentum with a bucket, but Rowan pushed the lead to 16 (30-14) with 9:26 left in the first following a jumper from junior forward Shawn Wilson.
The Scarlet Raiders began chipping away, fighting within eight after a layup and free throw from Snow with 3:43 left, and a put-back from sophomore center Dave Lunsford made it a six-point game at the break.
The Scarlet Raiders shot an amazing 59.2 percent (29-for-49) from the field, 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from three and 29-for-42 (69 percent) at the line. R-N finished plus-10 in the rebounding department (35-25), tallying eight steals and 36 points in the paint.
Rowan shot 47.7 percent (31-for-65) from the field, 36.7 percent (11-for-30) from three and 80 percent (16-for-20) at the line. Five different Rowan players scored 12 or more points.
McDaniel added 13 points and two rebounds, with Stephens getting his first double-double as a Scarlet Raider with 10 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Azoroh finished with 14 points on just seven shots and four rebounds.