TCNJ tops Rutgers-Camden in NJAC men’s basketball

CAMDEN CITY, N.J. (Feb. 5, 2020) – The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team grabbed a 35-21 halftime lead and held off Rutgers University-Camden, 77-64, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.

The Lions improve to 13-8 overall and 10-4 in the NJAC with their 11th straight win over the Scarlet Raptors. They lead the all-time series, 68-18.

Rutgers-Camden falls to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the NJAC.

The Scarlet Raptors held a few early leads, with the last coming at 12-11 before the Lions took the lead for good on a three-pointer from freshman guard Anthony DiCaro. Leading 23-19, the Lions rattled off nine straight points on the way to their 35-21 halftime lead.

The Scarlet Raptors sliced the margin to eight points (55-47) midway through the second half on a layup by junior guard

Arian Azemi,

but the Lions padded their lead back to 17 points 64-47 before Rutgers-Camden made a late-game run. A 17-7 spurt, capped by a three-pointer from freshman forward

Dylan Trow,

cut the gap to 71-64 with 3:26 remaining, but that was as close as the Raptors could get. TCNJ scored the final six points of the game, with the final four scored by senior guard Randall Walko, who was named the NJAC Player of the Week on Monday.

Walko and junior forward Travis Jocelyn finished with 17 points apiece for the Lions, while senior forward Ryan Jensen added 15 points. Jenson also led the Lions with nine rebounds, helping TCNJ take a 44-31 advantage off the boards.

Despite the loss, the Scarlet Raptors accomplished a few individual milestones in the game. Senior forward

Isaac Destin

notched a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. The 29 points moved him into seventh place on the career scoring list with 1,219, passing Ray Pace, who had 1,201 points in two seasons from 1975-77.

Azemi, meanwhile, collected two steals to hike his season mark to 72, setting a new single-season program record. He passed the previous mark of 71, shared by Joshua Askew (2009-10) and Marvin Young (1980-81).

Azemi also added 18 points and a game-high five assists, while sophomore forward

Jake Petrik

scored 13 points.

Rutgers-Camden plays an 8 p.m. NJAC game at Rutgers-Newark Saturday.

PET OF THE WEEK: RODNEY

Hey there, my name is Rodney and I am one big boy. I am a one-year-old terrier mix looking for a loving home. Playing with toys, taking walks, and spending time with you are three of my favorite things. I know some basic commands, but I pull hard on my leash. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength, but I am a gentle giant at heart. Would you like to make me a part of your family? Please ask the

AWA staff

how you can take me home today!

Think Vaping is Safe? Think Again!

Vaping, is it DANGEROUS?

Presenter: Cathy Butler-Witt, MA, BSW, NCTTP, CTTS—Assistant Director, Public Health Programs for Family Health Initiatives and the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative.

Location: Camden County College, Blackwood Campus, CIM Auditorium

The Center at Camden County College focuses on the needs and interests of educators and the community at large. Its goal is to create an informed citizenry through exploration of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and issues critical to a democratic society. Citizens have the opportunity to meet scholars, scientists, government officials and business leaders to explore historical and current issues and discuss societal problems and their solutions.

For more information, Visit

www.camdencc.edu/civiccenter

Prosecutor Files Motion to Dismiss Indictment Against Kevin Baker/Sean Washington

Camden City, N.J. (February 4, 20200-– Acting Prosecutor Jill Mayer today announced that the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office will file a motion to dismiss the indictment against Kevin Baker and Sean Washington and retract its notice of intent to appeal this case to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

After full consideration of the recent Appellate Division opinion reversing the convictions of Baker and Washington and granting them new trials, the Prosecutor’s Office will not re-try the defendants for the murders of Rodney Turner and Margaret Wilson. This decision was made in consultation with the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability within the Attorney General’s Office.

On January 28, 1995, 35-year-old Turner and 40-year-old Wilson were fatally shot outside the Roosevelt Manor Apartments in Camden. In 1996, Baker and Washington were convicted of murder and other related charges by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. Over the past 25 years, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office has successfully defended the convictions through multiple layers of state and federal appeals. While the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office disagrees with the Appellate Division’s basis for a new trial, the Office respects the decision of the court. Notably, the Appellate Division did not declare Baker and Washington “actually innocent” and did not find error with the initial prosecution of this matter or the majority of the rulings made by the trial court during the trial and post-conviction relief hearings.

In deciding to dismiss, the Prosecutor’s Office considered the totality of the circumstances, including the passage of time and the impact it would have on re-trying the defendants and proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Considering our mandate to pursue the interests of justice at all times, retrial after this length of time is not feasible in this particular case.

Rutgers-Camden’s Pitts earns NJAC Rookie of the Week Honor

CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 3, 2020) –

Jalissa Pitts

has been one of the top freshmen in the New Jersey Athletic Conference throughout her maiden season.

The Rutgers University-Camden guard/forward was rewarded for her talents Monday when she was named the NJAC Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Week. She becomes the Scarlet Raptors’ first NJAC Rookie of the Week since Wykira Johnson-Kelly captured a trio of the conference honors last season (Nov. 12, Dec. 10 and Jan. 21).

Pitts earned her honor after averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds in a pair of conference games as the Scarlet Raptors went 1-1 last week. Rutgers-Camden lost at game at Stockton University Wednesday and posted a big road win Saturday against one of the NJAC’s top teams, Kean University.

Against Stockton, Pitts collected her second career double-double, producing a game-high 19 points, while tying for game-high honors with 11 rebounds. She nearly added another double-double against Kean, once again scoring 19 points and adding nine rebounds. She also collected two assists and two steals in that game.

For the season, Pitts is second on the Scarlet Raptors with a scoring average of 11.6, while leading the team in rebounding with a 7.3 average. She has played in all 20 Rutgers-Camden games, starting 19, including the last 16 contests. She also has added 31 steals (fourth on the team), 21 assists (fourth) and six blocked shots (tied for third).

Pitts notched her first career double-double against Ramapo College on Jan. 8, notching 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Her career scoring high of 25 points came in her first collegiate game, Nov. 12 at Penn State-Schuylkill. She added 24 points in her first meeting against Kean on Dec. 14.

Overall, Pitts has scored in double figures on 10 occasions, including three times with 20 or more points. She also has three double-figure games in rebounds.

Pitts, who also earned honors Monday as Rutgers-Camden’s Raptor of the Week, becomes the second Scarlet Raptor to earn NJAC honors this season. On November 18, senior guard

Fatimah Williams

was named the NJAC Player of the Week.

A graduate of Winslow Township High School, Pitts was a two-time All-Olympic Conference First Team player during her scholastic career. She earned 10 varsity letters at Winslow Township, including four apiece in basketball and soccer and two for outdoor track.

A Nursing major at Rutgers-Camden, Pitts captured Dean’s List recognition and a berth on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during her first semester on campus in the fall.

Voorhees K9 Officer Recovers Loaded Firearm/Drugs During Routine MV Stop

VOORHEES TWP. NJ (January 30, 2020)

–At approximately 11:27pm, Voorhees K9 Officer Matthew Buchhofer initiated a motor vehicle stop in the area of Eastwood Drive and Chipley Run with a white Ford F-150 for an equipment violation.

Subsequent Police investigation revealed the driver identified as Donald Money (41) from the 300 block of Blaine Avenue, Berlin, NJ and a front seat passenger identified as Justin Morgan (40) from the unit block of Eastwood Court, Voorhees, NJ. During the course of the stop and subsequent investigation, Officer Buchhofer and his K9 partner Jocko located a loaded .38 caliber special Revolver, hollow point ammunition, schedule II narcotics and narcotic paraphernalia.

Money was charged with possession of narcotic paraphernalia and obstruction of justice. Morgan was charged with Possession of a Schedule II narcotic, Failure to surrender CDS to Police, Possession of Hollow Point ammunition, Unlawful possession of a weapon and Certain persons not to possess weapons. Both individuals were remanded to the Camden County Correctional Facility. This matter is pending in Superior Court in Camden City.

Address/Location

Voorhees Township Police Department

1180 White Horse Road

Voorhees Township, NJ 08043

Contact

Emergency: 9-1-1

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BREAKING NEWS

Camden County PD Sergeant Lydia Perez Retires After 25-Years-of-Service

CONGRATULATIONS–The Camden County Police Department held a special ceremony on January 31 to honor Sgt. Lydia Perez, who retired after 25 years of distinguished law enforcement service in Camden City.

Sgt. Perez was recognized by the Camden County Police Department in 2015 for her outstanding work. The following is from that proclamation.

She joined the former Camden Police Department in 1994. Four years later, she was assigned a critical role overseeing the department’s Uniform Crime Reporting. Sergeant Perez has served in that role since 1998 with the former city department and now with the Camden County Police Department.

Every week, Sergeant Perez reviews hundreds of police reports and must ensure that each crime that occurs is properly classified in accordance with the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting standards and that these numbers are reported accurately to the New Jersey State Police.

Despite handling a daily volume of reports that is exponentially higher than most other police departments, Sergeant Perez has been recognized by the State Police as being one of the best and most accurate UCR reporters in the entire state for more than a decade. She regularly achieves UCR accuracy rates of 98 percent and above. During the recent New Jersey State Police audit of Camden County Police Department UCR crime statistics, the department was found to have achieved a 100 percent accuracy mark in correctly classifying crimes for the first quarter of 2015.

“She really takes the time and dedication to do the job based on the FBI guidelines. With her accuracy, she’s one of the top UCR reporters in the state,” said Lieutenant Spencer Hildebrand of the New Jersey State Police.

“Sergeant Perez demonstrates her commitment every day through her hard work and the high standard she sets for UCR reporting. She is a tremendous asset to this department,” said Assistant Chief Orlando Cuevas.

For her continued excellence and dedication to her job, we honor Sergeant Lydia Perez as Camden County Police Department Officer of the Week.

On behalf of the residents and community you served, CNBNews would like to thank you for your dedication. And, we wish you the best in your retirement.

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BREAKING NEWS

Fatimah Williams collected a career-high 43 points; Scarlet Knights Take Kean U. 84-75

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior guard

Fatimah Williams

collected a career-high 43 points for the fourth-highest single-game total in program history to power the Rutgers University-Camden women’s basketball team over Kean University, 84-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.

Rutgers-Camden improves to 11-9 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC. Kean, which entered the day one game behind the NJAC tri-leaders Rowan, Montclair State and The College of New Jersey, falls to 13-7 and 9-4. Although Kean leads the all-time series, 50-23, the Scarlet Raptors are 4-2 in their last six games against the Cougars.

Williams became only the second player in program history to notch a 40-point game, an accomplishment that the program’s all-time scoring leader, Terry Cole, did four times. Cole has the three top-scoring games above Williams, notching 53 points against Ramapo (Feb. 26, 1983), 45 against Rutgers-Newark (Jan. 26, 1983) and 44 against Jersey City (Jan. 23, 1980). She also had a 40-point game against Spring Garden on Feb. 13, 1980.

Williams passed her previous career high of 32 points, set against Cairn University on Nov. 16, 2019. The game marked the 11th time she has scored 20 or more points this season and raised her career total to 1,139, 11th on the program’s all-time list. She is 15 points behind 10th-place Maureen McGovern (1994-99).

Williams also passed the season 400-point plateau, raising her total to 407 and her scoring average to 20.4.

Williams scored 24 of her points in the first half, helping the Scarlet Raptors take a 45-35 lead at the break. Rutgers-Camden trailed, 22-21, after one quarter and 24-21 early in the second quarter before taking the lead for good, 25-24, on a layup by sophomore forward

Breanna Ettrick.

That basket was part of a 14-0 run for the Raptors, who led by as many as 26 points (70-44) in the second half. The closest Kean came after the break was seven points (82-75) with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Williams shot 18-for-30 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from three-point range, and was 5-for-9 at the foul line. She added nine rebounds, one steal and a team-high four assists.

In addition to Williams, the Raptors received another outstanding game from freshman guard/forward

Jalissa Pitts,

who scored 19 points and almost notched her second double-double of the week, finishing with nine rebounds. Freshman center

Kayla Newton,

meanwhile, collected a double-double with 12 points and a game- and career-high 19 rebounds. Her previous rebounding high was 10, accomplished four times this season.

The double-double was the third of Newton’s rookie season.

Junior guard

Shane Holmes

added three assists, three steals, three points and three rebounds, while Ettrick had five rebounds to go along with her three points.

Rutgers-Camden held a 51-39 advantage off the boards and shot 34-for-64 (53.1 percent) from the floor, while winning the Cougars were 27-for-83 (32.5) from the floor.

Senior guard Payce Lange and sophomore guard Shannon McCoy scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, for Kean.

The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. home game against The College of New Jersey.

Isaac Destin’s 40-point Game Lifts Scarlet Raptor Men

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior forward

Isaac Destin

notched a career-high 40 points and added 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season to power the Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team over Kean University, 79-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Scarlet Raptors improve to 7-13 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC under first-year Head Coach

Stuart Pradia.

It is the most overall and conference wins for the program since going 14-12 overall and 8-10 in the NJAC during the 2014-15 season.

Kean falls to 5-15 overall and 2-11 in the NJAC with its second loss against Rutgers-Camden this season. The Cougars lost in Camden, 68-63, on Dec. 14. Kean still leads the all-time series, 59-27.

Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 12 points in the first half (16-4 and 19-7) and was ahead, 23-12, before Kean went on a 20-7 run to grab its first lead of the day, 32-30. A pair of foul shots apiece

by sophomore forward

Jake Petrik

and junior guard

Arian Azemi

put the Raptors back in front, 34-32, but Kean took the lead right before half on a three-point play by sophomore guard Jared Latane.

Sophomore guard Jailen Jamison paced Kean with eight first-half points, while senior forward

Isaac Destin

had 10 points and Petrik added eight on the opening half for Rutgers-Camden.

Kean opened the second half with a 12-6 run to grab seven-point leads of 45-38 and 47-40, but a 10-point Raptor run was fueled by six points from Destin, giving the Raptors a 50-47 lead. After the teams swapped leads for a stretch, the Scarlet Raptors build their lead to as many as eight points, 72-64, on a trey by Petrik with 2:58 remaining and a layup by Destin with 2:20 left.

Although the Cougars closed within 75-72 with 38 seconds remaining, Destin hit four foul shots down the stretch to clinch the victory and end his career-high performance with 40 points. His previous high was 33 against Rosemont College on Nov. 10, 2019. With his 40 points, he became only the 12th Scarlet Raptor to reach the 40-point plateau. The program record is 46 by Dan Rucker against Southeastern on Feb. 4, 1978. Destin is the first Raptor to hit 40 since Dane Nicholson also reached that total on Jan. 6, 2005 against Arcadia.

The 40 points hiked Destin’s career total to 1,190, allowing him to move past Pete Vearling (1,151 from 1964-68) and into eighth place on the program’s all-time list. Seventh place belongs to Ray Pace (1975-77) with 1,201 points.

For the game, Destin went 14-for-23 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the foul line. He added 12 rebounds for his double-double and also collected three assists, two steals and two blocked shots. His points, rebounds and blocks were all game-high totals.

Azemi added 12 points, six rebounds and game-high totals of 10 assists and seven steals. The 10 assists tied his Raptor career high set in the same game against Rosemont where Destin had his previous high point total.

Petrik finished with 11 points for the Scarlet Raptors.

Jamison and Latane led Kean with 28 and 21 points, respectively. Jamison added seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lead the Cougars.

Rutgers-Camden shot 26-for-52 (50 percent) from the floor and 21-for-30 (70.0) from the foul line to overcome a 20-19 deficit in turnovers. The Raptors held a 32-31 edge off the boards.

Kean went 29-for-61 (47.5) from the floor and 11-for-16 (68.8) from the foul line.

Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action Wednesday when it hosts The College of New Jersey at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Giving Back to the Community

Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

Giving back to the community is a family affair for Bernard and Shirlee Brown, their daughter Anne Koons, their son Jeff and his wife Tracy.

CAMDEN CITY NJ–The Cooper Learning Center recently received $50,000 from the Bernard and Shirlee Brown Foundation, the Anne Koons Brown Foundation and the Jeff and Tracy Brown Foundation. This generous donation will go a long way to help children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties learn to read and become happy, lifelong learners.

The Cooper Learning Center, with offices in Voorhees and Moorestown, has offered parents and children access to the most advanced, scientifically-proven methods for accurately assessing and treating children’s learning difficulties, combined with expert clinical support for the possible causes of learning disabilities.

“Learning to read is something that no one can take away from you,” said Koons, a successful real estate agent whose son benefited from the Cooper Learning Center 25 years ago. “We had such a positive experience and I have recommended countless people to Dr. Selznick. It’s a privilege to support this program.”

Richard Selznick, PhD, licensed psychologist, author of four books on learning issues, and the Director of the Cooper Learning Center, and his staff, ensure that children learn in a caring and supportive environment that diminishes insecurity and self-consciousness while fostering comfort and trust.

“Seeing a struggling learner grasp a concept that has been a challenge is extremely rewarding,” said Selznick. “We are grateful to the Koons and Brown families for supporting our efforts over the years to help children realize their full learning potential. They have been extremely gracious in their support of the children.”

Donations from Koons and her family have allowed the Cooper Learning Center to provide its reading services to children who would not otherwise have access to such a program. Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

“All of my life, our parents have championed meaningful causes benefitting those in need,” said Jeff Brown, president and vice chairman of NFI. “We are proud to support a local resource where children, and their families, faced with learning challenges feel understood and are treated in a compassionate way.”

“

The more you read, the more you know, oh the places you will go

,” and thanks to Anne Koons and the Brown family, more children are overcoming their learning challenges to go so many wonderful places!

For more information about The Cooper Learning Center,

click here

Pictured Above:

Top (L-R): Jeff and Tracy Brown, Bernard Brown, Anne Koons and Shirlee Brown

Bottom: Participants of the Cooper Learning Center’s Summer Reading Institute with Dr. Selznick, Anne Koons and Cooper staff.