New York, NY – Senior forward Joseph DeLuca (Maspeth, NY/Christ the King) closed out 2008 with a 19 points performance, shooting 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, but a small halftime lead wouldn't be enough to lift the Hawks past Rutgers-Newark who improve to 8-3 on the season with a 78-71 victory Tuesday afternoon at the Hunter Sportsplex.

Junior forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) led all scorers on Tuesday with 25 points and also pulled down ten rebounds for Rutgers-Newark. Joining Singleton in double figures was senior forward David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) who netted 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.

For the Hawks, senior guard Nicholas Flagg (Queens, NY/Cardozo) scored nine of his 11 points from beyond the arc, while senior guard Emiljano Kinaj (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy) contributed ten points. Senior forwards Frantz Millien (Rockland, NY/North Rockland) and Maka Thomas (Queens Village, NY/Martin Van Buren) led the team with seven rebounds each while scored six and seven points respectively.

After a close first half that saw the game tied seven times with 12 leads changes, the Hawks clung to a three point, 36-33 lead. The Scarlet Raiders then opened up the second half with a flurry of baskets, quickly building an eight point lead, their largest of the game.

The top three Hawks scorers then led a 12-4 run to tie the game at 50 with 12:12 left in to go. The would go dry after this run though, allowing the Scarlet Raiders to build up a seven point lead with just under five and a half minutes left in the game. Hunter was able to cut the lead to three following a Flagg three-pointer with 33 seconds left, but Rutgers-Newark sank a couple of free-throws to end the game.

The Hawks will open up 2009 on the road as they head to La Pluma, Pa. for a non-conference game against Keystone College at 3:00 p.m. In their last meeting, the Hawks defeated the Giants 82-79 on December 1, 2007.