Mahwah, NJ: The #19 Ramapo College men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to post a 93-74 win at the Bradley Center over Rutgers-Camden University. The Roadrunners snap their two game skid and improve to 10-3 overall while they remain undefeated in the NJAC with a 6-0 record. The Scarlet Raptors fall to 2-10 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
In the first half the Roadrunners came back to take a five point lead into the locker room 40-35. Rutgers-Camden saw themselves up six on a three-pointer from Ian McCarthy that capped off an 8-0 run before Ramapo went on an 8-0 run of their own. Jordan Zagadou started the run with a jumper before it was capped off with a made basket from Rob McWilliams to take a 12-10 lead with 11:19 remaining in the first half. The Scarlet Raptors tied the game a pair of free throws and took a five-point lead 17-14 when John Herndon posted a three-pointer and jumper back-to-back with under ten minutes to go. Ramapo came back with a 7-0 run of their own that was started with back-to-back shots from Patrick Peterson and Nick Stanek before McWilliams nailed a three-pointer to extend the lead 21-17. Ramapo would take an eight-point lead 33-25 on a made three-pointer from James Long off a pass from Josh Ford. The Scarlet Raptors cut the lead to four 35-31 with under 2:30 left in the half on a made basket from Isaac Destin before Peterson sank a big three-pointer to get the lead back to seven 38-31 with 1:50 to go. The Scarlet Raptors scored four points in the final minutes of the half while Ramapo added two to their total taking a 35-30 lead into the locker room.
In the second half Ford went on a mini 4-0 run for the Roadrunners scoring on the free throw line and a layup to put Ramapo 44-39. The Scarlet Raptors cut the lead to two 45-43 with a 6-0 run before a 10-2 run extended the Ramapo lead to double-digits 57-47 with under 14 to play in the game. Anthony Harris and Destin cut the lead to six with a pair of free throws and a jumper respectively before McWilliams sank a three-pointer and Ford hit a jumper to take their biggest lead of the game so far 62-51 (12:33). Ramapo began to extend their lead with less than nine minutes to play in the game as Christopher Moseley scored back-to-back baskets 61-53, following a basket from Destin, Bonacum scored a jumper and three-pointer while Latka hit a jumper to take an 80-63 lead with 6:03 remaining. The Roadrunners took a 22-point lead, the biggest of the game, when Moseley capped off a six point run with a jumper 86-64 with 4:17 on the clock. In the final four minutes of action the Scarlet Raptors outscored Ramapo 10-7 while the Latka scored the final five points of the game and for the Roadrunners as they posted a 93-74 win at the Bradley Center.
The Roadrunners shot 58% (38-65) from the field, 50% (10-20) from the free throw line while they made seven three-pointers in the game 7-14 (50%). Ramapo tallied 50 points in the paint to Camden's 18 and combined for 21 points off of the Scarlet Raptors turnovers. Ford and Latka led the team in scoring with 15 points while McWilliams and Moseley each added 12 points. Bonacum contributed with seven points and a team high 13 rebounds while he added five assists, three steals and two blocks. Latka also tallied eight rebounds while Zagadou posted eight points off the bench.
The Scarlet Raptors shot 41% from the field (25-61), 32% (8-25) from the three-point line and 69% (16-23) from the free throw line. Four players scored in double figures for the team as Harris and Destin each tallied 19 points while Charlie Riccardi posted 14 points and Herndon added 12 of his own. Herndon dished out a team high five assists while Harris contributed with four.
The #19 Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, January 6th when they travel to NJAC rival the College of New Jersey for a game at 3pm. Ramapo sits in sole possession of first place in the conference after tonight's win as TCNJ and rival #20 New Jersey City University both suffered conference losses.