WAYNE, NJ…The nationally ranked William Paterson University defense limited New Jersey City University to 28.1 percent shooting, including 20 percent in the opening period, as second-place WPU pulled into a first place tie in the New Jersey Athletic Conference by defeating the first-place Gothic Knights, 81-65, Saturday afternoon at the WPU Rec Center. The 65 points scored by NJCU were a season low.
The loss for NJCU (10-4, 5-2 NJAC) is its first in the league in nearly two months, last losing at Montclair State University on November 22. WPU (11-3, 6-2 NJAC) won its eighth straight to remain the hottest team in the league. NJCU had entered the game having won 9-of-10, but now have lost 2-of-3 following an eight-game winning streak of its own. The Knights are 7-0 at home this season, but have struggled away from the JMAC, where NJCU is 3-4 in away and neutral site contests.
With the loss, coupled by Richard Stockton College’s win over Montclair, NJCU, RSC, and WPU are in a three-way deadlock for first place in the conference. NJCU had won its last six conference games by an average of 15.5 per game.
Although NJCU leads the all-time series, the Pioneers have won the last three games in the series, each by double figures, since the Knights won all three meetings during the 2003-04 regular season and playoffs.
In defeat, senior swingman
MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) scored 21 points, including 13 in the second half, to move into 10
th place in school history with 1, 343 points. He passed head coach
CHARLES BROWN on the all-time list.
Brown, who scored 1,324 points in a three-year career from 1962-65, ironically was the program’s all-time leading scorer when he graduated. NJCU is 16-10 all-time when
Washington scores at least 20.
WPU gained the lead for good at 9:47 of the first half, and never trailed again, as the Pioneers were led by a team-high 20 points from junior forward Luis Martinez (Passaic, NJ/Clifton). Martinez scored 16 of his 20 in the second half, and grabbed six caroms, while shooting 7-of-14 from the field.
Senior guard Mario Rivero (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) had 10 points (5-9 FG) and five boards as the Pioneers out-rebounded NJCU, 48-30, and owned a 44-18 edge in the paint. Senior forward Nick Torres (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) added seven rebounds, six points, and two blocks, while sophomore guard Tyreek Rolon (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) came off the bench to contribute eight points and four assists in 16 minutes. Sophomore guard Jason Cameron (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) had five assists and sophomore guard Joey Spiegel (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) added nine points.
For NJCU, junior center
ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) chipped in a season-high 13 points (3-6 FG, 7-10 FT), and added two blocks in 19 reserve minutes. Freshman forward
DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain (PA)) had nine points, while junior point guard
ALEX MIRABEL (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) tallied seven points, six rebounds, and three assists.
WPU entered the week ranked ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.369) and 13th in scoring defense (59.4), and proved why, as NJCU scored less than 70 points in a game for only the third time this season, and the first time in a loss.
NJCU shot 28.1 percent overall (18-64), and 7-of-29 from long-range (.241). NJCU shot 7-of-35 from the field in the opening half (.200) and 4-of-16 from three-point land (.250). The Knights did convert from the line, making 22-of-30 chances (.733).
The Pioneers shot exactly 50 percent in each half and shot 31-of-62 for the game, 5-of-11 from three (.455) and 14-of-18 at the stripe (.778).
NJCU led 17-12 after a lay-up by Williams with 11:25 remaining, before a 12-0 run by the Pioneers allowed the hosts to take a 24-17 lead, following a three-point play by freshman guard Tim Lucas (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge). WPU led 37-25 at the half.
NJCU clawed within six points at 8:52 of the second half on a Mirabel layup, and whittled the lead to eight at four instances before WPU pulled away. The final margin of 16, the largest lead of the game for the Pioneers, was also the largest deficit in any game for the Knights since a 17-point lead for Scranton University in the first game of the year.
NJCU will return to action on Wednesday, January 18 at 8 p.m. when it hosts The College of New Jersey in an NJAC game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
