BALTIMORE, Md.--Senior Lavar Rich scored a game-high 21 points and sophomore Cameron Cook drilled four three-pointers as the Hood College men's basketball team (7-4) defeated Rutgers-Newark University (7-5), 71-63, in the opening round of the 21st Annual Blue Jay Invitational hosted by Johns Hopkins University Tuesday evening.

Hood never trailed in the contest en route to its third straight win of the season. The Blazers will face the winner of the Johns Hopkins/CCNY contest Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

The Blazers enjoyed their largest lead of the first half after junior Justin Stone swished a pair of baskets on consecutive possessions to give Hood a 23-12 advantage at the 6:44 mark. Cook and Rich combined for 20 points in the opening stanza as Hood led 33-27 at halftime.

The Scarlet Raiders came close to leapfrogging the Blazers but Hood would not relinquish its lead. Al'Don Muhammad and Greg Moore teamed up to net Rutgers-Newark's first seven points of the second half to knot the score at 34-34. After both teams misfired on their next three attempts apiece, the Blazers regained the upperhand on a conventional three-point play by Trey Quinn. Later in the half, back-to-back layups by Quinn stretched the Hood lead back to double-figures once again, 50-40, at the 12:01 mark.

Rutgers-Newark cut the deficit to three on a pair of Christian Garcia buckets, but Brenden Straughn countered with a triple off a feed from Stone and the Blazers kept the Scarlet Raiders at bay the rest of the way.

Rich connected on 7-of-8 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line for his second 20-point performance of the season. Cook finished with 16 points and is only two treys away from tying former Blazer Darnell Edmonds '07 for fifth place on Hood's career three-pointers chart. Quinn added 13 points and five rebounds while Ramon Smith tallied 11 points and five boards.

Hood shot 48.1 percent from the field (25-of-52) and 75.0 percent from the foul line (15-of-20).