By MATT SUGAM
Associated Press

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Caleb McConnell had 16 points and six rebounds, and Akwasi Yeboah provided a spark off the bench with 13 points to lead Rutgers past Stephen F. Austin 69-57 on Wednesday night.

Rutgers (4-1) jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the wire-to-wire win, prompting a Stephen F. Austin (4-1) to call timeout 2:15 into the game. The Scarlet Knights would lead by as many as 14 points before taking a 31-26 halftime advantage.

Rutgers stretched the lead to 16 on a couple of occasions in the second half before Stephen F. Austin cut the deficit to 57-49 on a Gavin Kensmil layup with 4:14 to go. Yeboah answered with an old-fashioned 3-point play following the layup to put Rutgers back up double-digits.

The Lumberjacks made one final push, making it 62-55 on a layup by Kevon Harris with 1:37 to play.

Harris led Stephen F. Austin with 18 points. Kensmil added 11 points and 10 rebounds, and John Comeaux chipped in 14 points.

It was the first meeting between the schools.

BIG PICTURE

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights bounced back from their first loss of the season to St. Bonaventure. They’ll have two cupcakes left before traveling to Pitt to take an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent and then it’s a couple of Big Ten games, starting at No. 3 Michigan State on Dec. 8.

Stephen F. Austin: Picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference, the Lumberjacks were off to a 4-0 start under fourth-year coach Kyle Keller. Kevon Harris led averaging 19.8 points per game while John Comeaux entered Wednesday night ninth in the nation in steals with 12.

UP NEXT

Rutgers: Host NJIT on Tuesday.

Stephen F. Austin: At No. 1 Duke on Tuesday.

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