Alongside a majority of his Rutgers teammates, Colonia native Jordan Derkack carried the Garden State Hardwood Classic trophy toward the home locker room at Jersey Mike’s Arena following Saturday’s 66-63 rivalry victory over Seton Hall.

The Seton Hall Pirates have dominated the recent Garden State Hardwood Classic history, but today, the Pirates are heavy underdogs against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has a talented group of freshmen whose defense hasn’t caught up with its offense, and my Seton Hall vs. Rutgers predictions expect the Pirates to score buckets.

Rutgers will keep the New Jersey-shaped Garden State Hardwood Classic trophy at their practice facility for another year — and keep its season from going off of the rails — thanks to one of the greatest individual performances in program history.

Fortunately for him, he has Dylan Harper. The freshman guard out of Don Bosco Prep swished a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Rutgers past the Hall 66-63 in an instant classic, capping two hours of heated drama in front of 8,