NEWARK, N.J. – Rutgers-Newark claimed the 2021-22 ECAC Men’s Basketball Division III Tournament Championship with a massive second half and defeated ninth-seeded William Paterson 56-53.
The Scarlet Raiders earned the title off a 35-19 second half behind Quincy Rutherford’s game-high 20 points. Abe Kromah followed with 17 points, while Jamir Patterson capped off the team’s double-digit scoring with 11. A balanced scoring effort paced the Pioneers, whose magical run came to a close, as Caesar Silvestro had a team-high eight points, Michael Gilmore with seven and four others with six.
As a team, Rutgers-Newark shot 9-of-15 from the line while William Paterson was plagued by a 3-for-13 result.
William Paterson struck first and opened the game on a 6-0 spurt. Their lead built to 11 points on a 13-0 run over the next 3:28 and had a 21-10 cushion. Rutgers-Newark cut the lead to single digits on multiple occasions, but the Pioneers hit a three before the half and led by 13 (34-21) after the first 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, Rutgers-Newark fought back and made it a one-possession game with 11:14 to go after a 13-2 run. A Dante Ralph layup finally gave the Scarlet Raiders their first lead of the half (39-38) with 8:23 to play. William Paters saw itself in a 52-47 hole, but took back the lead (53-52) on a six-point run.
Cue four straight points from Rutgers-Newark on a Rutherford bucket and two Kromah free throws that built a 53-53 lead with four seconds to go. In the final ticks, William Paterson called a timeout and attempted to tie it, but the basket was no good and the Scarlet Raiders completed the comeback and secured the ECAC Division III Tournament title.
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