The Rutgers-Newark men's basketball team had five players score in double figures and the Scarlet Raiders led the entire way in a 77-52 non-conference win over visiting Moravian College Monday evening.
Junior forward Hussein Abdelmaksoud opened the scoring for Rutgers-Newark (5-2 overall) at the 18:12 mark, and a three-pointer by senior guard Pedro Burgos gave the Scarlet Raiders a 10-0 lead with 14:01 on the clock. The Greyhounds (3-5 overall) would get on scoreboard on a jumper from senior forward Jeff Cullinan at 13:04, and Moravian cut the lead to five points, 13-8, on a three-pointer from Cullinan two minutes later.
Junior guard D.J. Strayhorn hit a pair of free throws at 7:14 as Moravian pulled within four points, 20-16, at 7:14, and a jumper from Cullinan had Moravian down 22-18 with just under six minutes to play in the opening half. Rutgers-Newark finished the half with a 14-7 run to head to the locker room with a 36-25 lead.
The Scarlet Raiders had a hot shooting hand in the first half, making 16-of-31 field goal attempts (51.6 percent), 3-of-8 three-pointers and just 1-of-4 free throws. Moravian was just 10-for-27 from the floor (37.0 percent), and the Greyhounds connected on 2-of-9 three-point attempts and 3-of-6 free throws. Moravian had a 18-17 edge in rebounds in the opening back, but the Greyhounds committed ten turnovers while Rutgers-Newark had six turnovers.
Junior guard Garrett Johnson and Strayhorn opened the second half with baskets for Moravian, and the Greyhounds trailed 38-31 after a steal and lay-up from Strayhorn at 17:21. However, Rutgers-Newark went on a 15-0 run to build a 53-31 lead on a three-pointer from senior guard Greg Moore at 12:31. Moravian freshman guard Kevin Pankionen stopped the Scarlet Raiders run with a three-pointer at 11:38 but the Greyhounds would get no closer than 15 points, 54-39, after a three-pointer from sophomore forward Cameron Cullen at 10:53.
Rutgers-Newark made 16-of-39 field goal attempts (41.0 percent), 8-of-15 three-pointers and 1-of-2 free throws in the second half, and the Scarlet Raiders finished the game with a 41-32 advantage in rebounds. Rutgers-Newark also had just 13 turnovers in the game while forcing Moravian into 19 miscues. The Greyhounds connected on 9-of-22 shots from the floor (40.9 percent), 4-of-13 three-pointers and 5-of-10 free throws.
Johnson led Moravian with a game high 15 points to go with four rebounds and two assists while Strayhorn tossed in eight points to go along with three assists and three steals. Cullinan finished with seven points and four rebounds while Pankonien and Cullen had had five points. Cullen added four rebounds and two assists while sophomore guard Kenny Gula had five points, five rebounds and two assists for the Greyhounds.
Moore and junior guard Al'Don Muhammad each has 12 points to lead Rutgers-Newark with Muhammad dishing out eight assists and Moore grabbing three rebounds. Freshman guard Doze Ikwuegbu, freshman guard/forward Christian Garcia and senior forward Jeremiah Rivers each tossed in ten points for the Scarlet Raiders with Garcia pulling down a game high 12 rebounds to go with six assists and three steals. Rivers added six boards and two steals while Abdelmaksoud had ten rebounds and seven points in the game.
Moravian will return to action with its final game of first semester on Saturday, December 10th with a non-conference game at Lebanon Valley College starting at 2:00 p.m.
