New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University senior swingman MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) scored 24 points in 21 minutes, and shot 5-of-5 from three-point range, as the Gothic Knights improved to 76-0 all-time when scoring 100 points, and routed Rutgers University-Camden, 112-82, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

               

 NJCU (10-3, 6-1 NJAC) won its sixth consecutive conference game, and improved to 7-0 at home this season, remaining in sole possession of first place in the league. The Knights have won nine of their last 10 games, while Camden (1-12, 0-7 NJAC) lost its night straight. NJCU is 45-4 all-time against the Scarlet Raptors, including a 44-2 ledger during the 24-year career of head coach Charles Brown. NJCU has won 35 of the last 36 in the series.

               

NJCU trailed for only 10 seconds during the opening possession of the game. Leading 14-13, NJCU outscored Camden 47-25 to finish the first half, and owned a 61-38, 23-point half-time margin.

               

NJCU opened the second half on a 22-0 run, and led by 45, 83-38 at 14:14, its largest margin of the game, before the Raptors finally scored their first points of the second period at 13:05. NJCU scored its 100^th point with 6:06 remaining.

               

Washington shot 9-of-11 from the field and had 20 of his 24 points in the opening period, adding seven rebounds and four assists. Now with 1, 322 points, Washington climbed into 11^th place in school history in scoring, passing Jeff Harrington (1302, 1997-01) and current NJCU assistant coach Darren Watkins (1318, 1988-92) during this game. He is two points shy of matching Brown for 10^th place all-time. NJCU is 16-9 all-time when Washington scored at least 20.

               

JAMES KAISER" src="/images/mbasket/2006/1/11/11-30-05%20James%20Kaiser%2017.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Freshman forward DASHAN MARTIN (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) shot 5-of-7 from the field, while posting career highs of 15 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes. Senior center JAMES KAISER (Stewartsville, NJ/Columbia) added 12 points (5-6 FG) and four assists in 16 minutes, while freshman forward DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain (PA)) had 10 points (4-9) in 15 minutes.

 

Junior point guard ALEX MIRABEL (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) tallied nine points (4-7 FG) and four assists in 16 minutes, while the Knights received eight points apiece from sophomore shooting guard CHARLES COLES (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) and junior center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln). Junior power forward DEVIN DAVIS (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) contributed six points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

 

Overall, each of the 13 members of the NJCU roster saw at least 10 minutes of action, and 12 scored, while no player logged more than 21 minutes. NJCU out-rebounded Camden, 54-30, and had 30 assists. Six different players delivered four assists.

 

In defeat, freshman guard and three-time NJAC Rookie of the Week Wayne Smalls (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) poured in a game-high 31 points (10-27), including five threes (5-9) in 37 minutes. He entered the game as the NJAC’s leading free-throw shooter at 92.9 percent. However, he missed his first free-throw of the game (6-8 FT), which snapped a streak of 21 in a row, good for second in Raptors’ history.

 

Also for Camden, sophomore guard Amir Fantroyal (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) contributed 16 points (7-12) and six assists. Junior guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Holy Spirit) had 12 points and eight rebounds, but shot 4-of-15. Freshman forward Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) finished with 11 points.

 

NJCU shot 54.5 percent overall (42-77), including 56.1 percent in the first half (23-41). The Knights made 10 three pointers (10-24, 41.7%) and 18-of-26 at the line (69.2 percent). Camden shot 41.8 percent overall (28-67) and 77.8 percent at the line (21-27). NJCU owned a 54-28 edge in points in the paint, and received a 51-21 cushion in bench scoring. NJCU had a 28-4 margin on fast-breaks.

               

NJCU returns to action on Saturday, January 14 at 3 p.m. when it visits second-place William Paterson University for an important NJAC game in Wayne, NJ. Camden hosts Kean University the same afternoon.