Rutgers-Camden Week In Review

By Mike Ballard
RutgersCamden Sports Correspondent

RAPTOR OF THE WEEK

Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional)

Sophomore forward Megan Rulon turned in a dominating performance at the Craig Keeler Memorial Tournament, held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison Jan. 10-11. On her way to earning All-Tournament honors, Rulon scored 43 points, had 28 rebounds, seven assists, seven blocked shots and four steals in the Lady Raptors’ two games. She had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a narrow first-round loss to eventual champion Trinity (CT) College. In the consolation game against Lincoln, she had 19 points, six blocks, two steals and career-high totals of 18 rebounds and five assists. Earlier in the week, Rulon had another double-double, collecting 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in a win over Cabini. For the week, she averaged 20 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.7 steals. This marks the second Raptor of the Week honor for Rulon this season. She shared the award with teammate Erin James on Nov. 24.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (5-8/1-2)

Thur., Jan. 8 Rutgers-Camden 85, Cabrini College 77
Jan. 10-11 at FDU Craig Keeler Tournament
Jan. 10 Trinity (CT) College 71, Rutgers-Camden 68
FDU-Florham 75, Lincoln 49
Jan. 11 Consolation: Rutgers-Camden 79, Lincoln 42
Championship: Trinity (CT) 62, FDU-Florham 57

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

Wed., Jan. 14 William Paterson University 6 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 17 at Rutgers University-Newark 1 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 19 St. Mary’s College (MD) 2 p.m.

Sophomore forward Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional) was a force to be reckoned with at the fourth annual Craig Keeler Memorial Tournament, held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, Jan. 10-11.

Rulon scored 43 points, had 28 rebounds, seven assists, seven blocked shots and four steals in the two-day event. She earned All-Tournament honors as the Raptors won the consolation game over Lincoln University, 79-42, after a narrow first-round loss to eventual champion Trinity (CT) College, 71-68.

SCARLET RAPTORS REPORT 2-2-2-2

In the championship game, Trinity (CT) College edged host FDU, 62-57, to capture the title behind the play of Tournament MVP Rebecca Bell. Bell had game-high totals of 14 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Bantams (6-3).

Rulon collected her third double-double of the week in the consolation game, pouring in 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds against Lincoln. She had 12 defensive rebounds among her 18 boards. She passed her previous career high of 15 rebounds, set against Ithaca (Dec. 30, 2003) at the Surf ‘N Slam tournament in San Diego.

Rulon also collected a career high of five assists, easily passing her previous high of two. She added two steals and blocked six shots – two shy of her career high. On the way to her game-high 19 points, she went 8-for-15 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the foul line.

Rulon wasn’t the only Lady Raptor to register a double-double. Junior center Crystal Lucas (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) collected 10 points and 10 rebounds for Rutgers-Camden.

Freshman guard Kelly Stafford (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester) notched 13 points and two steals. Sophomore guard Lisa Geiger (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester) added six rebounds, three steals and a career-high 10 points, passing her eight-point effort against Ithaca Dec. 30, 2003.

Rutgers-Camden (5-8) raced to a 37-16 halftime lead, and held a 53-44 advantage off the boards

Lincoln (2-8) received 18 points from Altoria Spann.

In the opening game of the tournament, junior guard Tracy Nesbit hit a foul shot with 18 seconds remaining to break a 68-68 deadlock and lift Trinity (CT) College over Rutgers-Camden, 71-68, Jan. 10. In the other first-round game, host FDU defeated Lincoln University, 75-49.

The Lady Raptors and the Bantams played a tight game throughout the contest, with the biggest leads being seven points by Trinity and six by Rutgers-Camden. The lead changed eight times and the score was tied 10 times, with the last time coming at 68-68 following a foul shot by Rulon with 22 seconds remaining to cap a three-point play.

Nesbit hit her go-ahead foul shot with 18 second remaining, but Rulon grabbed the rebound off her missed second attempt. With 12 seconds remaining, the Bantams’ freshman guard/forward Leigh Melanson stole the ball, setting up a pair of foul shots by junior guard/forward Jessica Baker for the final margin. The Raptors missed a three-point attempt with four seconds remaining.

Bell paced Trinity with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Baker added 16 points, while Melanson canned 13.

For the Raptors, Rulon notched 24 points and 10 rebounds as she finished only one point shy of her career scoring high, set against William Paterson University (Feb. 8, 2003). Senior guard Erin James (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester) collected 15 points, six assists and tied her career high of nine rebounds (set against Ramapo, Dec. 7, 2002).

The Raptors also received double-digit scoring from sophomore guard Carmen Zimmitt (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown), who had 10 points, three steals and six rebounds.

In their first game of the week, James scored a game-high 26 points – one shy of her career high – and Lucas notched a career-high 18 points and added 11 rebounds to lift Rutgers-Camden to an 85-77 comeback victory over Cabrini College Jan. 8 in Camden.

Rutgers-Camden also received 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds from Rulon.

The Lady Raptors, who were down by as many as 12 points in the second half (63-51), ran off a string of eight points to tie the game at 67-67 on a steal and a layup by Zimmitt. Moments later, the Raptors took the lead for good at 70-69 on a foul shot by Geiger with 7:20 remaining.

Cabrini jumped to a quick 12-6 lead and led throughout the first half, taking a 44-41 advantage into the locker room. Sophomore center Lauren Budweg paced the Lady Cavaliers’ first-half effort with 10 points. For Rutgers-Camden, James scored 14 first-half points, while Lucas added 10.

Sophomore guard Jen Wessell scored 15 points to pace five Lady Cavaliers in double figures. Sophomore guard Amy Richetti scored 14 points and dished off seven assists, while Budweg added 12 points. Sophomore guard Erin Shemar collected 11 points and five assists for Cabrini, and sophomore forward Jackie Yoder collected 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

James added six assists to her game-high 26 points, missing her career high of 27 points (set against Montclair State (Feb. 2, 2002) and tied at Keystone College (Dec. 17, 2003). Lucas’ 18 points was one more than her previous high of 17, set against Trinity (D.C.), November 23, 2003.

Zimmitt finished with 11 points for the Raptors.

SCARLET RAPTORS REPORT 3-3-3-3

MEN’S BASKETBALL (2-9/0-3)

Tues., Jan. 6 Chestnut Hill College 77, Rutgers-Camden 69
Thurs., Jan. 8 Rutgers-Camden 68, Arcadia University 47

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

Mon., Jan. 12 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice 6 p.m.
Weds., Jan. 14 William Paterson University 8 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 17 at Rutgers University-Newark 3 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 19 at York College (NY) 7 p.m.

A huge start helped the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball team snap a three-game losing streak as the Raptors toppled Arcadia University, 68-47, in a non-conference home game Jan. 8.

The Scarlet Raptors, who raced to a quick 19-4 lead, received 15 points apiece from senior guard Gene Mergenthal (Sicklerville, NJ/Highland) and junior guard Tyrone Rucker (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken).

Arcadia (0-9) was paced by the game-high totals of 20 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore forward Magen McNeil.

Rutgers-Camden grabbed a 30-17 halftime lead as Rucker scored nine points in the opening 20 minutes. Sophomore center Byron Diggs (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) grabbed seven rebounds and junior forward Mike Hopson (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester) added six for the Raptors in the opening half on their way to team-high totals of 10 apiece.

Mergenthal dished out a game-high eight assists and set his career high with nine steals. His previous high was seven steals, set against New York City College of Technology Dec. 13, 2003.

Arcadia freshman guard Kenan Muhammad collected seven assists and four steals to lead the Scarlet Knights.

In the Raptors’ first game of the week, freshman guard Shawn Bolling scored a game-high 25 points and Chestnut Hill College overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Rutgers-Camden, 77-69, in a non-conference game Jan. 6 in Philadelphia.

The Griffins outscored the Scarlet Raptors, 47-31, in the second half, aided by a huge 19-5 advantage from the foul line. For the game, Chestnut Hill shot 31-for-46 from the line, while Rutgers-Camden went 13-for-23.

Freshman forward Delton Morgan-Hines added 20 points for the Griffins, while freshman guard Isaac Greer notched 13. Junior forward Ryan Albany collected a game-high 13 rebounds for Chestnut Hill, which held a 46-45 edge off the boards.

Chestnut Hill shot 41.8 percent from the floor for the game (23-for-55), while Rutgers-Camden shot 36.8 (25-for-68). The Raptors went 6-for-25 ((24.0) from three-point range.

Rutgers-Camden placed four players in double-digit scoring, led by junior guard Tyrone Rucker (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken), who scored 15. Junior guard Sean Smith (Mt. Holly, NJ/Burlington Township) notched 14 points, while a pair of Raptors added 12 points: freshman guard Tim Genovese (Erial, NJ/Baptist) and junior forward Mike Hopson (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester). Hopson also added a team-high six rebounds.