Rally Falls Short As Men's Basketball Falls,
86-77
CAMDEN, N.J. (2/17/07) - Senior forward Sydney Francis (Camden,
NJ/Woodrow Wilson) scored a career-high 31 points to lift the
Scarlet Raptors over Kean University, 86-77, in the final
regular-season game for both New Jersey Athletic Conference
teams.
With the loss, Kean was eliminated of a berth in the upcoming NJAC
playoffs. The Cougars, who lost their last four games, closed the
season at 13-12 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC South Division, one
game behind The College of New Jersey.
Rutgers-Camden closes with a 6-19 record overall and a 2-11 mark in
the NJAC.
Rutgers-Camden scored the first 10 points of the game and 15 of the
first 16. The Raptors raced to a 25-7 lead, including 11 points by
Francis, before settling with a 49-37 halftime lead. Francis had 16
points at the half, while Kean senior guard Lamar Wright (Galloway,
NJ/Absegami) had 17 on his way to a team-high 28-point
performance.
The Cougars rallied in the second half with an 18-6 run to tie the
game at 55-55, then took their first lead of the night, up to
59-55, on back-to-back layups by senior guard Bryan Miller
(Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central).
With Kean holding a 65-62 lead, the Raptors' two seniors, Francis
and guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) scored
back-to-back field goals, putting Rutgers-Camden up for good, 66-65
with 7:30 remaining.
Francis shot 10-for-18 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from
three-point range, on his way to 31 points.
The Raptors also received 11 points from sophomore forward Antoine
Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts), while freshmen guards Joshua
Askew (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) and Rory Thornton
(Vauxhall, NJ/Union) each added 10 points.
In addition to Wright's 28 points, the Cougars received 12 points
from senior guard Brett Wyatt (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Mary's), while
senior forward Bryan Keller (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) added 11. A
pair of Cougars, Miller and senior forward Steve Koenigstein (Toms
River, NJ/Toms River East) each added 10 points. Miller added a
game-high seven steals.
Wyatt and Koenigstein each added seven rebounds for Kean, which was
out-rebounded, 42-37.
The Scarlet Raptors shot 29-for-55 (52.7 percent) from the floor,
including 7-for-10 (70.0) from three-point range. Kean shot
27-for-71 (38.0), including 6-for-23 (26.1) from three-point range.
