CAMDEN – The Rosemont men's basketball team improved to 2-1 tonight after a hard-fought 63-60 win at the Rutgers-Camden Scarlet Knights. With the result, the Scarlet Raptors are seeking their first win of the season after three games played.
The Scarlet Raptors held the lead for a total of 38 seconds in tonight's game, but the two teams couldn't really get much distance between each other, with Rosemont's largest lead being six points. Rutgers-Camden's largest lead was two points.
The teams played to a 24-24 tie at the end of the first half, and neither team showed signs of taking control in the second half.
That's exactly how the final half played out; closely and filled with tension.
Neither team could get their offense untracked early in the second half. The Ravens took a two-point lead, making 2-for-4 from the foul line to lead 26-24. While the Ravens' defense kept the Scarlet Raptors off the scoreboard, layups by Kyle Lafferty and Marcus Thomas gave the Ravens a 30-24 lead – a relatively large lead for such a close game. A couple of free throws from Thomas kept the Ravens in front by six, 40-34 with 12:24 remaining and the teams traded treys to make the score 43-37 after Thomas hit from downtown to keep the Raptors at bay, 43-37 with 11:12 left.
R-C would get back to within a pair, trailing the Ravens 43-41 with 9:37 left, when both teams were having difficulty scoring, with no buckets for the next 1:33 when Kyle Lafferty broke the spell with a layup to keep Rosemont in front, 45-41. A three-ball from R-C's J. Diaz-Smitherman would pull the home side back to within two points, 46-44 with 7:18 left.
Thomas would come through again with a key shot for the Ravens, draining a three to put Rosemont back ahead by five points, 49-44 with just under six minutes to play. Another scoring drought by both teams ended when the Scarlet Raptors sank another three-pointer to get back to within 49-47 with 4:20 left. The Ravens' Khadim Diaw answered back on Rosemont's next possession to once again extend their lead to four points, 51-47 with just under four minutes left on the clock.
Kyle Lafferty hit a key layup to put the Ravens back in front by six, 53-47 with 3:17 left, but Rutgers-Camden would not go away. Another home three-pointer would get them to within three points as Rosemont still led 53-50 with 2:24 left. The Ravens again answered on their next possession when Marcus Thomas converted a layup to lead 55-50 with two minutes left in the game.
The Scarlet Raptors outside shooting remained hot and kept them in the game down the stretch, as another triple made the score 55-53 with 1:26 left. The Ravens didn't have an immediate answer this time. Rutgers was fouled and converted one of two free throws to get within a point of Rosemont, 55-54 with 57 ticks left on the clock. This time Khai Roberts did supply an immediate reply with a big three-pointer to extend Rosemont's lead back to four points, 58-54 with 0:37 left in what was then a two-possession game.
Ten seconds later, Marcus Thomas was fouled on the missed back-end of R-C's two free throws, and he converted both to retain a five-point lead for the Ravens, 60-55 with 19 ticks left, and it would be enough to hold on to the hard-battled win for Rosemont.
Marcus Thomas had another fine night of shooting, going 6-for-10 from the field (4-for-7 from deep) and 9-for-15 at the line for 25 points. Kyle Lafferty hit for 10 points while Khadim Diaw led the Ravens with eight rebounds. Clayton Wolfe had eight points and seven rebounds for Rosemont.
Rutgers-Camden's Davis Graham was the only Scarlet Raptor in double figures, scoring 11 points.
The Ravens begin their conference schedule on Tuesday when they host last year's CSAC champion Neumann Knights in Alumnae Hall for a 7:00pm game.
