New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…Junior center DEVIN DAVIS (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) became the fifth player in school history to swat 100 career blocks, as he finished with 17 points and seven rejections, and the first-place New Jersey City University men’s basketball team won its seventh straight game and remained perfect at home, toppling Kean University, 81-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. Overall, each team had five players reach double figures in scoring.

               

NJCU (8-2, 5-1 NJAC) has not lost since November 22, and improved to 6-0 at the JMAC this season. The Gothic Knights are 36-11 overall and 22-3 at home against Kean (3-6, 1-5 NJAC) in the 24-year career of head coach CHARLES BROWN. The Cougars have lost five of their last six.

               

Davis shot 8-of-12 from the field, and added four assists and four rebounds. With seven blocks, he has rejected 24 shots in his last three games. Davis’ three-pointer with 1:37 remaining broke open a two-point game, giving NJCU a 75-70 lead, before his thunderous dunk at 1:04, gave the Knights a six-point cushion.

               

Senior swingman MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) finished with 14 points (4-9 FG), five assists and five rebounds, while freshman forward DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono MARK WASHINGTON" src="/images/mbasket/2006/1/5/11-30-05%20Mark%20Washington%2015.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Mountain, PA) added 12 points, including two threes, and seven rebounds.

               

Sophomore shooting guard CHARLES COLES (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) contributed 12 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 3FG), while junior point guard ALEX MIRABEL (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.

               

Junior guard Brian Miller (Trenton, NJ/Trenton) led all players with 20 points (5-11 FG, 9-12 FT) and 11 rebounds, while the Cougars also received a double-double from senior forward Armet Coles, Jr. (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) with 14 points (7-18 FG) and 10 caroms, before fouling out.

               

Senior forward BJ Hamby (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan), who entered the game needing 17 points to join Kean’s 1000-point club, fell four short. He finished with 13 points and nine boards before becoming one of three Cougars to foul out.

               

Also for Kean, junior forward Brett Wyatt, Jr. (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Mary’s), the son of former NJCU First-Team All-America selection and all-time leading scorer Brett Wyatt, finished with 10 points (4-7) in his first game against the school where his father scored 2,292 points from 1975-79. Senior guard Danny Del Valle (Linden, NJ/Linden) had a game-high six assists.

               

Kean sprung out to a 19-7 lead at 11:15, as Hamby converted three consecutive layups. However, behind the play of NJCU’s second team, the Gothic Knights exploded for a 17-0 run. After a Coles trey, followed by a layup from junior center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) who made his return to the lineup for the first time this season, the game was tied 19-19. Senior forward BEN BALCOM (Monroe, NJ/St. Patrick’s (Elizabeth)) made it 24-19 with two free throws and a three-pointer. An 8-1 run to close the period gave NJCU a 42-30 margin at the half.

               

The Knights maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the opening seven minutes of the second half, and owned a 52-41 edge as Davis slammed a fast-break dunk at 13:33. However, after a technical foul on the dunk, Kean uncorked a 13-3 run to climb back into the contest. Two freebies by Hamby shaved the score to 55-54 at 10:18. A three by Miller at 8:20 gave Kean its first lead of the half, 58-57.

               

The clubs would trade six leads and six ties over the next 5:26 of action. A Coles jumped lifted NJCU to a 69-66 lead at 3:17, before sophomore forward Bryan Keller (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) drilled a tying three at 2:54.

               

The Knights seized the lead for good at 2:45 as Davis slipped in a pass from Williams. At 1:37, Davis found himself wide open on the right wing, and rang up his fourth three-pointer of the season for a 75-70 score. Just 36 seconds later, John delivered a beautiful pass down low to Washington, who unselfishly found Davis for a monster jam on the right baseline, and a 77-71 edge. A layup by Wyatt and two Miller free throws made it 77-75 with 31 seconds left, before Coles and Mirabel each converted two free-throws in the final minute.

               

NJCU shot 44.1 percent (26-59), sank six three-pointers, and converted 23-of-34 at the stripe (67.6%). Kean out-rebounded NJCU, 46-35, including 21-12 on the offensive glass, but it was the Knights who scored more often (16-15) on second chances. The Cougars shot 39.1 percent overall (27-69) and 17-of-27 from the line (63.0%).

               

NJCU returns to action in the 28^th Annual Greyhound Starters Classic hosted by Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday, January 7 when it meets FDU-Florham at 6 p.m. Kean next plays at the Villa Julie College Tournament on January 7.