College Basketball: Raptor of the Week: Megan Rulon Monday, November 21, 2005 By Mike Ballard RutgersCamden Sports Correspondent RAPTOR OF THE WEEK Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional) Center Megan Rulon started her senior season on the women’s basketball team in style, earning all-tournament team honors at the Seventh Annual Jim Crawley Classic at Frostburg State University Nov. 18-19. While helping the Lady Raptors split their first two games, Rulon collected 37 points, 27 rebounds and nine blocked shots, raising her career totals to 220 blocks (71 shy of the school record), 596 rebounds and 906 points. She is 94 points from becoming the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 for her career. Overall, Rulon went 14-for-23 from the floor and 9-for-15 from the foul line. She also added four assists and four steals. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (1-1/0-0 NJAC) November JIM CRAWLEY CLASSIC (at Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Md.) Fri. 18 College Misericordia 73, Rutgers-Camden 52 Frostburg State University 73, Rutgers-Camden 58 Sat. 19 Rutgers-Camden 61, Lincoln 52 (Consolation) Frostburg State 79, College Misericordia 67 (Championship) UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Tues. 22* at Richard Stockton College 6 p.m. Mon. 28 at Valley Forge Christian College 6 p.m. Wed. 30* at Rowan University 6 p.m. December Sat. 3* Ramapo College 1 p.m. Mon. 5 St. Mary’s College 6 p.m. Wed. 7* at The College of New Jersey 8 p.m. Sat. 10* at Rutgers University-Newark 5:30 p.m. Senior center Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional) turned in an outstanding performance on her way to making the all-tournament team as the Rutgers-Camden women’s basketball team split its two games at the season-opening Seventh Annual Jim Crawley Classic at Frostburg State University (Md.) Nov. 18-19. After losing their opener against host and eventual champion Frostburg State, 73-58, the Lady Raptors bounced back with a 61-52 victory over Lincoln University in the consolation game. In the season opener Nov. 18, junior Tracie George scored a game-high 28 points to lead host Frostburg State University to a 73-58 victory over Rutgers-Camden in the first round of the Jim Crawley Classic. The Bobcats took a 10-5 lead just over four minutes into the game on a pair of baskets by junior Krystin Hargrove. George added a three-pointer to cap a 9-2 run over the next three minutes as FSU lifted its lead to 19-7. Although Rutgers-Camden cut the gap to 25-20, the Lady Raptors never came closer the rest of the night. Frostburg State used a 9-2 run over the last three minutes of the half to take a 34-22 lead at the break. The Bobcats opened the second half with a 23-6 run to take a 57-28 lead, sparked by seven straight points from sophomore Amanda Hernandez. In the other first-round game, College Misericordia toppled Lincoln University, 73-52. After the Bobcats took their 57-28 second-half lead, Rutgers-Camden went on an 11-point run, with four points apiece by senior guard/forward Carmen Zimmitt (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) and sophomore guard Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional). The run, which sliced the deficit to 59-39, was capped by a three-pointer from freshman guard Melissa Whitten (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester City). Hernandez followed that run with six straight points of her own on the way to a 10-point night. Hargrove canned with 20 points to finish second to George’s game-high 28. Senior Stephanie Watts had 14 rebounds and game-high totals of eight assists and eight steals for the Bobcats. For Rutgers-Camden, Rulon had 15 points and game-high totals of 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. Zimmitt added 12 points and a team-high four steals, while Hafiz and freshman Crystal Pezzano (Brockton, MA/Brockton) each added eight. In the consolation game, Rulon collected game-high totals of 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots to power Rutgers-Camden over Lincoln University, 61-52. In the championship game, host Frostburg State University defeated College Misericordia, 79-67, as George scored 22 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She collected 50 points in the two-day event, including 28 in the opener against Rutgers-Camden. Rutgers-Camden’s victory was the first of the season for the Lady Raptors (1-1) and the first win under new coach Dale Hodges. Lincoln fell to 0-2. Rulon earned a berth on the all-tournament team with her outstanding play, averaging 18.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in the two games. She collected nine blocked shots in the two games, in addition to her 37 points and 27 rebounds. The two-day tournament pushed her career totals to 220 blocked shots (71 shy of the school record), 596 rebounds and 906 points. She is 94 points shy of becoming the 10th player in program history to hit the 1,000-point milestone. The Raptors held a 13-9 lead following a layup by Rulon with 11:43 remaining in the first half. Lincoln, however, countered with its own run to take a four-point lead on a layup by Tanina Cook. Rutgers-Camden used back-to-back jumpers from freshman guard Jessica Hull (Sicklerville, NJ/Fairton Christian Center and Academy) to tie the game at 21-21, and grabbed a 25-23 halftime lead. The Lady Raptors grabbed a quick four-point lead early in the second half on a layup by Hafiz at 18:21, but senior center Mary Rotimi tied the game at 35-35 on a layup with 13:29 remaining. The Lady Raptors took the lead for good with an 11-3 run, sparked by four straight points from Zimmitt. Rulon added the next four points and Hull capped the run with a three-pointer, giving the Raptors a 46-38 lead. Lincoln never came closer than three points (49-46) the rest of the way. In addition to Rulon, the Raptors received 12 points from Zimmitt, who scored a dozen points in each of the two tournament games. Hafiz and Pezzano each added eight points, while Hull had seven. Hafiz also added game-high totals of eight assists and eight steals, setting her career high in both categories. Her old mark of four assists was accomplished twice and she had seven steals against Lehman on Dec. 11, 2004. Lincoln’s Rotimi also made the all-tournament team with 14 points. She added 10 rebounds. Lincoln received 13 points from sophomore Asha Atkinson. MEN’S BASKETBALL (0-2/0-0 NJAC) November WYNDHAM TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT (at Albright College, Reading, Pa.) Fri. 18 Marymount (VA) 58, Keystone College 48 Albright College 97, Rutgers-Camden 62 Sat. 19 Keystone College 85, Rutgers-Camden 71 (consolation) Albright College 70, Marymount (VA) 60 (championship) UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Tues. 22* at Richard Stockton College 8 p.m. Mon. 28 at Valley Forge Christian College 8 p.m. Wed. 30* at Rowan University 8 p.m. December Sat. 3* Ramapo College 3 p.m. Wed. 7* at The College of New Jersey 6 p.m. Sat. 10* at Rutgers University-Newark 7:30 p.m. Tues. 13 at SUNY-Farmingdale 7 p.m. The 2005-2006 season got off to a tough start for the Scarlet Raptors as they lost a pair of games at the Wyndham Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 18-19 at Albright College in Reading, Pa. The Raptors lost their opener 97-62 against host and eventual tournament champion Albright, and they dropped an 85-71 decision against Keystone College in the consolation game. In the season opener on Nov. 18, sophomore Tom Murphy scored a career-high 19 points to lead Albright College to a 97-62 victory over Rutgers-Camden. Murphy shot 8-for-10 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, to lead three Lions in double figures. Albright, which also received 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from senior Trever Deeter and 14 points from junior Greg Conroy, placed 13 players in the scoring column. In the first game, Marymount defeated Keystone, 58-48. Albright bolted to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and opened up a 48-25 halftime lead, holding the Raptors to 23.7 percent shooting from the floor (9-for-38). The Raptors never got closer than 18 points in the second half as they shot only 30 percent for the game (21-for-70) while Albright shot 53.7 percent (36-for-67). The Lions also held a commanding 57-31 advantage off the boards. The Raptors received 19 points from junior guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit), who tied Murphy for game-high honors. He also added a game-high four steals. Freshman forward Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) added 14 points for the Scarlet Raptors. Sophomore guard Amir Fantroyal (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) had five assists for Rutgers-Camden. In the consolation game Nov. 19, senior forward Andrew Stone collected a game-high 22 points to lead three players in double figures as Keystone College defeated Rutgers-Camden, 85-71. In the championship game, host Albright College defeated Marymount (VA) University, 70-60. Keystone (1-1) never trailed, taking a 3-0 lead on a three-pointer by Stone 40 seconds into the game and opening up a lead as big as 18 points (34-16) before settling for a 40-27 halftime advantage. The Giants led by as many as 24 points (62-38) in the second half as they dropped the Scarlet Raptors to 0-2 on the season. Sophomore Tunde Ogunleye and junior Marcus Spence each scored 11 points for Keystone. The Giants’ junior center Harry Brown collected a game-high 12 rebounds, while senior Robert Cash added 11 boards. Keystone out-rebounded Rutgers-Camden, 50-30, as the Scarlet Raptors were dominated off the boards for the second straight night. In their first two games, the Raptors have been out-rebounded by an average of 53.5-30.5. For the Scarlet Raptors, freshman guard Wayne Smalls (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) scored 17 points and freshman center Josh Volz (Elk Township, NJ/home schooled) added 16 points. Fantroyal collected 13 points and a game-high four steals for the Raptors, while Nicholson notched 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Keystone shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the floor in the game, while the Raptors shot 37.3 (25-for-67).