CAMDEN, N.J. (Dec. 9, 2010) – The Arcadia University men's basketball team built a 20-point halftime lead and saw its margin whittled to nine points late in the second half before the Knights hung on to post a 66-54 non-conference victory over Rutgers University-Camden Thursday night.

Arcadia, which snaps a four-game losing streak, improves to 3-6. Rutgers-Camden falls to 0-6.

The Knights led all the way on their way to a 36-16 halftime lead. Through the opening 20 minutes, eight Arcadia players had broken into the scoring column, led by seven points from graduate guard Damien Palantino (Philadelphia, NJ/Father Judge) and six from junior guard Jason Thompson (Cape May Court House, NJ/Middle Township). The Knights' 6-7 freshman Aaron Benusis (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern), meanwhile, added four points, two blocked shots and numerous altered shots.

Arcadia shot 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) from the floor in the opening half while holding Rutgers-Camden to 7-for-24 (29.2) shooting. The Knights held a 19-14 edge off the boards and had six fewer turnovers, 11-5.

The Raptors cut into Arcadia's lead early in the second half, slicing the margin to 36-23, before the Knights went on a 16-7 margin to build their bulge back to 52-30 with 10:16 remaining. With seniors Jared Meredith (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Burlington County Institute of Technology) and Eric Goode (Newark, NJ/University) leading the way, however, Rutgers-Camden, scored 19 of the next 25 points, making it a 58-49 game with 1:13 remaining. Meredith scored all eight of his points in that stretch, while Goode added six.

Arcadia went 6-for-8 from the foul line the rest of the way and added a layup by junior forward Colin McCarthy (Langhorne, PA/Holy Ghost Prep) to close out its win.

Palantino and sophomore guard Jose Ortiz (Philadelphia, PA/Math, Civic and Science) paced the Knights with 14 points apiece, including a 6-for-8 performance by Palantino from the foul line and 6-for-11 shooting by Ortiz from the field. Thompson added 10 points for Arcadia.

The Knights finished the game shooting 40.8 percent (20-for-49) and held a 40-38 edge off the boards, led by seven rebounds from Ortiz. Benusis finished with three blocked shots.

Rutgers-Camden, which shot 21-for-60 (35.0) from the floor, received 12 points apiece from Goode and junior guard Anthony Solano (Garfield, NJ/Wood-Ridge). Senior forward Kevin Brown (Port Norris, NJ/Millville) had a game-high nine rebounds, while senior forward Alex Rislin (Union, NJ/Union) added seven.

Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday when it entertains Keystone College in a 3 p.m. non-conference game.

Arcadia is idle until Friday, Dec. 17, when the Knights play a 7 p.m. game at Rosemont College.