NEWARK, NJ – Joe Loughran posted his 200th career victory in style as Rutgers-Newark upended Richard Stockton, 73-63, in The Golden Dome Arena to stay alone atop of the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings.

The Scarlet Raiders (15-5, NJAC 11-2) rode the 3-point shooting of junior guards Chris Foreman and Doze Ikwuegbu – who combined to sink nine of 11 long range bombs – to the victory.  Foreman came off the bench to drop in five of six shots from beyond the arc and finish with 21 points while Ikwuegbu made four of five shots from downtown.

Foreman went on a one-man 6-0 run in the span of 45 seconds to turn a 53-52 deficit into a 59-53 Raider lead with 5:45 left as Rutgers-Newark seized control in a second period which featured two ties and eight lead changes.  Junior forward Josh Blamon gave Stockton its last lead at 53-52 with 6:58 remaining when he dropped in the second of two free throws.  Foreman hit a layup before technical foul on the Osprey bench sent him to the foul line where he upped the Rutgers-Newark lead to three.  Foreman then gave the Raiders breathing room by gunning in his fourth trey.

Stockton would trim its deficit to three points with 2:18 left on a trey by senior guard Rich Suhr, but Raider rookie reserve guard Darrian Collins answered with a 3-pointer just 32 seconds later to provide some space for the closing minutes at 69-63.

Junior forward Christian Garcia finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists for Rutgers-Newark while Collins notched three key assists and five points.  Freshman guard Rahim Bunch distributed a game-high five assists while sophomore forward Jordan McDaniel blocks three shots and score four points.  Junior center Elvis Hodzic pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and blocked a pair of shots for the Raiders.

Newark native Rameel Johnson posted a double-double in his homecoming with game high totals of 22 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.  Suhr tallied 15 points for the Ospreys while Blamon tallied seven rebounds and four points.

Ikwuegbu connected all four of his 3-point jumpers and Foreman came off the bench to nail both of his treys as Rutgers-Newark road six for eight accuracy from long range to claw out a 39-35 halftime advantage.  Johnson kept the Ospreys close by hitting four of five shots from the floor – including both of his 3-point attempts – to tally 11 points and six rebounds in the first period.

Ikwuegbu drained three threes as the Raiders exploded out to a 19-8 lead during the opening minutes, but Ospreys caught Rutgers-Newark at 29-29 on a free throw by Johnson with 3:54 left in the half.  But Stockton never took the lead before a buzzer-beating tip in by Garcia gave the Raiders a 4-point edge entering intermission.

The Scarlet Raiders not only stayed in first place in the NJAC race but became the first team to clinch one of six conference championship tournament berths with five games left on the slate.  The Ospreys (15-4, NJAC 9-3) stayed in second place.  It was the Raiders' ninth straight win dating back to the team's 77-68 loss to Stockton on January 4 in Galloway, earning Rutgers-Newark a split of the regular-season series.

Loughran, the winningest men's basketball coach of the NCAA Division III era at Rutgers-Newark, upped his overall record to 200-146.  In his 13th season at Rutgers-Newark, Loughran has helped the program to 11 consecutive winning regular seasons, both of the programs NCAA Division III Championship Tournament berths (2010 and 2013), eight NJAC Championship Tournament fields and seven ECAC Metro Championship playoff bids.  His teams have twice played in the NJAC title game, falling to Richard Stockton in 2009 and Ramapo in 2013.

Prior to Loughran's arrival in the Brick City, Rutgers-Newark had played in one NJAC tournament and had gone to two ECAC Metro playoffs.

Rutgers-Newark travels to William Paterson for an NJAC doubleheader on Wednesday.  The key men's game tips off at 6 p.m. with the women to follow at 8 in the WPU Rec Center.  The Pioneer men (15-5, NJAC 9-4) are in third place in the league and battling the Raiders and Ospreys for one of the two first-round byes in the 6-team league championship playoff.