JERSEY CITY, NJ…Junior forward Samar Battle (East Orange, NJ/Clifford Scott) drilled a game-tying three-pointer with 30.9 seconds remaining in overtime to tie the game, and sophomore forward Mark Washington (East Orange, NJ/Newark West Side) scored the go-ahead basket with nine seconds left, as New Jersey City University ended a three-game losing streak and corrected a surprising 0-4 start in the league, with a thrilling 67-64 overtime victory over long-time rival Richard Stockton College.
In a New Jersey Athletic Conference game at NJCU’s Athletic & Fitness Center
The Gothic Knights (3-5, 1-4), improve to 10-2 all-time when Battle scores 20-plus points in a game. Stockton falls to 5-4, 1-4 NJAC. NJCU head coach Charles Brown increased his career record to 393-174 in his pursuit for 400 career wins. In his 21 years at NJCU, the Knights own a 25-22 lead in head-to-head meetings with the Ospreys, including a 14-11 record in Jersey City. NJCU had begun the season 0-4 in the conference for the first time since 1958-59.
Battle had his fourth straight poor shooting contest, but scored when it mattered, posting a game-high of 22 points on 7-19 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three point range, and 2-of-2 from deep in the extra session to account for his six OT points. He added 10 rebounds (five offensive) and four blocks. Senior guard Reginald Wright (Trenton, NJ/McCorristin Catholic) added 14 points (5-10), six rebounds, four assists, and four steals, and hit 1-of-2 free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining in OT to give the Knights a three-point lead. Washington added nine (4-8), scoring the go-ahead basket on an inside pass from rookie point guard Richard Clark III (East Orange, NJ/Clifford Scott). Junior center Harold Williams (Jersey City, NJ/St. Aloysius) had a team-high 11 rebounds (seven offensive), seven points and two blocks, and senior forward George Thomas (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary’s) chipped in eight points and five rebounds.
Senior guard Jorge Arroyo (Mystic Island, NJ/Pinelands) led Stockton with 20 points (7-16), and contributed seven rebounds, three blocks, and three assists. Sophomore forward Kevin Vaughn (Mount Olive, NJ/Pope John XXIII) scored 13 points and ripped a game-high 12 boards, but committed eight turnovers. Senior center B. Woolford (Trenton, NJ/Central) had 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Senior guard Dave Graham (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) scored eight points, but had eight turnovers.
The Ospreys opened the game by grabbing a 10-0 lead right out of the gates, before a 16-6 run by the Knights tied the contest at 16-16 with 9:46 remaining in the first half. NJCU owned a 34-30 lead at the break.
The Knights led by as many as eight, 42-34, with 15:14 remaining in the game, when Battle drained the first of his three threes. The Ospreys responded with a 15-4 charge, taking the lead again at 47-46 when Arroyo (3-6) hit one of his three threes at 9:11 of the period. The two schools traded leads, before NJCU went up three, 56-53 when Williams finished a lay-up with 2:03 left. An Arroyo free throw, followed by a pair of freebies by Graham with 10.7 seconds left sent the game into overtime knotted at 56-56.
The Knights owned a 61-58 lead with 2:52 left when Battle banked in a three-pointer, but a pair of free throws by Arroyo with 2:08 remaining gave Stockton a 62-61 edge. With 1:14 on the clock, Vaughn converted a lay-up, giving the visitors a 64-61 advantage before Battle’s game-tying three from the right arc.
The Gothic Knights won despite shooting 33.3 percent overall (25-75). They were 4-of-5 from the floor in OT. Stockton hit 44.4 percent of its shots (24-54). NJCU out-rebounded Stockton by a 47-45 margin. Each team missed 12 free throws and shot 50 percent or worse from the line. However, Stockton committed 25 miscues to NJCU’s 17, which the Knights translated into a 36-14 difference in points off turnovers.
NJCU will return to action next Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 7pm when they visit Brooklyn, NY for a non-conference single game with Medgar Evers College.
