NEWARK, N.J. (February 24, 2016) - Second-seeded Stockton University defeated third-seeded Rutgers University-Newark by a score of 95-75 Wednesday night at The Sports Center in the semifinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.

The Scarlet Raiders drop to 20-7 overall and will now await their postseason fate come Monday. Stockton improves to 20-6 and will take on fifth-seeded The College of New Jersey in Saturday night's NJAC title game. TCNJ upset top-seeded New Jersey City University in the other Wednesday semifinal.

Rutgers-Newark was able to get off to a great start, but could not overcome the hot shooting of the Ospreys who finished the game at 59.3 percent from the floor (35-for-59) and 40.9 percent from three (9-for-22).

Senior forward Jordan McDaniel had 19 points and six rebounds, and senior guard John Snow had 19 points, three rebounds and two steals to pace Rutgers-Newark. Senior forward David Azoroh had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and senior guard Ricky Stephens had nine points and three rebounds.

Rutgers-Newark shot 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from three-point land, going 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) at the line.

McDaniel and Stephens helped the Scarlet Raiders to an 11-2 lead 2:48 in, forcing Stockton to call timeout, and after a pair of Osprey buckets, sophomore guard Tyler Ofray buried a three-pointer from the left corner to make it 14-6 with 16:16 left in the first.

The hosts responded with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 14, with a pretty move underneath from Azoroh putting an end to the rally and giving his team a two-point edge at 16-14.

After a three-pointer from Stephens, Stockton went on a 10-2 run to open a 28-23 lead, and following four-straight points from Azoroh, the Ospreys scored 16-of-18 to open a 44-29 lead with 2:03 on the clock.

McDaniel hit a late three for the Raiders, but senior guard Armin Cane matched it as Stockton took a 49-32 margin into the break.

The lead moved to 21 thanks to a second-chance bucket for Stockton, before a three-pointer from senior guard Morgan Dixon made it a 56-38 game 4:23 into the second half. The Ospreys maintained a comfortable margin of at least 18, and then extended to an 83-58 advantage on the back of six-straight points from junior forward Jaymere Hadden.

Five-straight points from senior guard John Snow cut a 28-point deficit to 23 with 4:40 to play, but it was too little too late for the Scarlet Raiders as they eventually fell by a 95-75 final.

Hadden led Stockton with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Cane had a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double.