CAMDEN
, N.J
. (
Dec. 9
, 201
9
) –
Baruch College junior guard Adnan Bajrami scored 25 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to rally the Bearcats past Rutgers University-Camden, 71-59, in a non-conference
men’s basketball game here Monday night.
Baruch improves to 5-2 with its second straight victory, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 3-5 with its fourth consecutive loss.
The Bearcats and Scarlet Raptors have played
a non-conference game for
three straight
seasons, with Baruch winning
all three games.
Behind six points from sophomore forward
Jake Petrik,
the Scarlet Raptors raced to a quick 12-3 lead to open the game. They led by as many as 10 points (15-5) before the Bearcats whittled the lead down to one on two occasions in the opening half (25-24 and 30-29).
Rutgers-Camden took a 32-29 lead into the break, but Baruch came out in the second half and scored the first four points on a layup by Bajrami and a layup by freshman guard Sean Donnellan. That gave the Bearcats their first lead of the night, 33-32. The lead changed hands four more times and the score was tied twice
before a three-pointer by Bajrami gave Baruch the lead for good, 49-46, and sparked a seven-point Bearcat run. Bajrami had five points in that sequence.
Baruch took a double-digit lead at 61-50 on a layup by Donnellan and kept the margin in double figures the rest of the way, with the biggest margin coming at 71-56.
Bajrami shot 12-for-17 from the floor, including 4-for-8 from three-point range, and also led the Bearcats with seven rebounds and a game-high five steals. Donnellan added 14 points for the visitors.
Senior forward
Isaac Destin
paced the Scarlet Raptors with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. He also added six assists to tie teammate
Arian Azemi,
a junior guard, for game-high honors.
Azemi finished with 16 points and nine boards, while
Petrik
had 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range.
Baruch shot 25-for-55 from the floor (45.5 percent), while Rutgers-Camden shot 20-for-48 (41.7). Although the Scarlet Raptors had a 35-30 edge off the boards, they also made 30 turnovers to the Bearcats’ 20.
The Scarlet Raptors
play one more game before the holiday break. They host Kean University Saturday at 3 p.m. in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest.