Ron Harper Jr. had 10 of his 20 points during a decisive second-half run and Geo Baker scored 19 points as Rutgers bounced back from a lackluster first half and pulled away from New Jersey Institute of Technology for a 75-61 victory Tuesday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Harper had 13 rebounds and Baker contributed four assists for Rutgers (3-0), which used a 17-4 run in the second half to break the game open.
Dylan O’Hearn scored 20 points and Miles Coleman added 15 for NJIT (1-2).
The Scarlet Knights seized control after Antwuan Butler’s 3-pointer for the Highlanders had cut Rutgers’ lead to 42-41 with 15:33 to go. Harper had a basket and two foul shots to extend the advantage to 46-41. After NJIT’s James Lee countered with a basket in the paint, Harper made two more free throws to make it 48-43.
Harper’s stepback jumper eventually finished the run and gave the hosts a 59-45 lead with 9:37 to go. NJIT cut its deficit to 61-55 on Mekhi Gray’s fast-break dunk with 6:03 left, but got no closer as Rutgers sealed the win with a 9-0 run for a 70-55 lead.
Once again, as it had in its previous two games, Rutgers got off to a slow start against an opponent from a lesser conference. After trailing at halftime against both Lehigh and Merrimack, this time the Scarlet Knights were down 33-32 at intermission to the Highlanders, who made the short drive down the New Jersey Turnpike from Newark.
NJIT did its damage in the first 20 minutes from long range, hitting seven of 13 3-pointers, with O’Hearn leading the way by sinking three of four. Baker helped keep the hosts afloat by scoring 11 points, including a jumper with 56 seconds left for the last score of the half. But he turned the ball over on the final possession, costing the Scarlet Knights a chance to go into the locker room with the lead.
NJIT’s biggest first-half lead was five points on two occasions.
–Field Level Media
