Rutgers-Newark Races Past Kean, 74-48

Game Leaders

Kean
Pts: Tommy Soulias - 12
Reb: Emmanuel Omowole - 6
Ast: Emmanuel Omowole - 3
Rutgers-Newark
Pts: Doze Ikwuegbu - 15
Reb: David Azoroh - 8
Ast: Christian Garcia - 6

Team Stats

Kean
Rutgers-Newark

Field Goals

(15-53)
(27-51)

Field Goal %

28.3%
52.9%

Rebounds

28
40

Assists

8
15

Turnovers

11
12

Pts off Turnovers

2
12

2nd Chance Pts

4
14

Bench Pts

13
27
full stats
More news about: Rutgers-Newark
Feb 04, 2015

NEWARK, N.J. – Rutgers University-Newark jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never let Kean University into the game in a 74-48 New Jersey Athletic Conference contest in The Golden Dome Arena.

Senior guard Doze Ikwuegbu gunned in back-to-back 3-point jumpers to open the scoring and junior forward David Azoroh put back the miss of a third Ikwuegbu trey as the Scarlet Raiders (15-6, NJAC 9-5) held the Cougars (5-16, NJAC 3-11) scoreless over the first three and a half minutes.  A layup by senior swingman Christian Garcia expanded the Rutgers-Newark advantage to 26-9 with 6:28 left in the half before the Raiders settled for a 34-20 edge after 20 minutes.

The lead ballooned to 56-26 on a layup by senior center Elvis Hodzic with 9:45 left and the Cougars never got closer than 21 points down the stretch.  Head coach Joe Loughran cleared his bench early and 10 Raiders scored in the runaway.

The win gave the Raiders a split of the regular-season series between the teams and snapped a 3-game winning streak by Kean against Rutgers-Newark dating back to last season.

Ikwuegbu knocked down five of 10 shots from beyond the arc for a game-high 15 points and added four assists.  Azoroh, who hit six of eight shots from the floor, added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds to help Rutgers-Newark control the rebounding, 40-28.

Junior forward Jordan McDaniel made five of six shots from the floor while posting a dozen points and a game-high two blocked shots.  Garcia tallied six points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists.  Hodzic came off the bench for eight points and seven rebounds while senior guard Chris Foreman chipped in nine points.  Senior forward Allen Kuiper posted six points and four rebounds to help the Raider bench out-score its counterpart, 27-13.

Reigning NJAC Player of the Week Tommy Soulias was smothered by the Raiders who limited him to three field goals on 14 shots from the floor.  He made six of eight free throws to finish with 12 points.  Senior guard J.J. Hladik hit three of eight shots from long range to tally 10 points for the Cougars while senior guard Emmanuel Omowole totaled eight points and team highs of six rebounds and three assists.

Kean became the fifth team held under 50 points by the Raiders this season.  It marked the fourth time that Rutgers-Newark held an opponent under 30% field goal accuracy.  The Cougars made just 28.3% (15-53) of their shots from the floor while the Raiders shot a solid 52.9% (27-51).

Rutgers-Newark visits William Paterson on Saturday for an NJAC doubleheader.  The men's game tips off at 1 p.m. with the women to follow at 3. 

The WPU men (17-3, NJAC 11-2) held off an upset bid by Montclair State, 70-67, tonight to stay a half-a-game behind Stockton (18-3, NJAC 12-2) in the battle for the NJAC regular-season title.  Rutgers-Newark is all alone in third place in the 10-team league with four games left no the docket.