New Jersey City University Athletics

Sophomore forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) is the NJCU Men’s Athlete of the Week for the first time this season and the third time in his career. He scored 11 of his career-high 19 points in the second half and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line as NJCU evened its record at .500 overall and in league play (6-6, 2-2 NJAC) with a 78-74 home win over Richard Stockton on Saturday, January 15 in NJCU’s only game of the week.

 

Albright had a tremendous all-around effort, Albright scoring 19 points in 27 minutes, making 5-of-8 from the field and 9-of-9 from the line, with three assists and three rebounds. He shot 62.5 percent from the field and his 1.000 free throw percentage was the best by an NJCU player with at least nine attempts since Dana John hit 11-of-11 on December 1, 2007 (vs. Rowan).

 

Albright’s success keyed an impressive second half in which NJCU shot 88 percent from the foul line—22-of-25.

 

With the clubs knotted at 46-46, NJCU reeled off 13 of the next 14 points to take control of the game for good. At the 6:29 mark, Albright sank a spinning jumper in the lane for a 55-47 advantage. At 4:32, Albright increased the lead to 59-53 with a layup on the left post. With 3:21 remaining, Albright was fouled shooting a three-pointer in the left corner, calmly walked to the line, and sank all three foul shots for a nine-point, 62-53 lead. Albright entered the game having made just 15-of-23 (.652) on the season. With 2:21 left, his assist led to a four-point play by teammate Ashmere Wilson and a 66-56 lead. Meanwhile, NJCU iced the game by making 12 of 14 from the line, including 10 straight and Albright made four of those foul shots.

 

For the season, Albright is averaging 7.5 points per game as part of a balanced offense in which 10 players are averaging 5.0 or more points per game. He has added 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.6 steals per game for the season.