POMONA, NJ…The New Jersey City University men’s basketball team nearly battled back from another double-digit, second half deficit, before falling by three at Richard Stockton College, 74-71, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at the Stockton Sports Center on Wednesday night. The Ospreys had a decisive 27-9 advantage in points off 19 NJCU turnovers.
With the loss for NJCU (11-8, 7-6 NJAC), the Gothic Knights have lost four in a row for the first time since dropping six straight during the 1992-93 season, 14 years ago, a streak than ran from January 16-30, 1993. All of those losses came against NJAC opponents. Since opening the campaign at 9-2 and 6-0 in the NJAC, the Knights have lost six of eight games and are 1-6 in conference games.
The two clubs split the season series, with NJCU defeating Stockton (13-6, 8-5 NJAC), 86-65 on December 7.
NJCU once held sole possession of first place in the league, but with five games remaining on the NJAC schedule, find themselves in sixth place, with Montclair State University and Kean University—NJCU’s next two conference opponents on the schedule—each one game behind at 6-7.
In defeat, sophomore shooting guard
CHARLES COLES (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) notched 17 points in 25 reserve minutes, as he knocked down 5-of-6 three-point shots and 6-of-8 from the field. Freshman forward
DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain (PA)) added 15 points (6-16 FG), seven rebounds and three steals.
Senior point guard
ROB FREENEY (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway), who transferred to NJCU from Stockton, was playing his first game in Pomona since changing schools, and had a solid game with 13 points (5-11 FG), including 3-of-7 from three-point range, and three assists in 23 minutes. His potential game-tying three at the buzzer rimmed out. Senior swingman
MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) collected nine points, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots.
Stockton received a game-high 19 points from senior forward Miguel Rodriguez (Passaic, NJ/Passaic), who shot 7-of-10 from the field and added a game-high nine rebounds. Senior forward Tobias Smith (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) poured in 18 points (6-15), while sophomore forward Jon Greene (Wildwood, NJ/Wildwood) shot 6-of-11, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
Also for the Ospreys, junior guard Kevin Holmes (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) tallied eight points, seven rebounds, and three steals, while sophomore guard Mario Lancioni (Runnemede, NJ/Triton) had six points and a game-high five assists. Rodriguez, Smith, and Holmes each logged 36 minutes.
With the game tied at 19-19 at 6:13 left, a three by Tobias gave Stockton a lead it would not relinquish. RSC finished the period on a 16-3 run.
A Rodriguez layup to open the second half extended the streak to 18-3, and gave the Ospreys a 15-point advantage. A three by John at 16:33 trimmed the deficit to seven, 38-31, but RSC quickly built the lead back to 15, 46-31, at 12:22.
Just as it had done against Ramapo and Rutgers-Newark in late January, only to lose at the end, NJCU battled back from a double-digit hole. A layup by John at 8:30 closed the RSC cushion to eight, 54-46, before a jumper by Freeney at 7:20 shaved the margin to just three, 55-52, as NJCU uncorked a 10-1 run.
After a technical foul on Davis, Smith and Rodriguez hit four straight free throws at 5:42, and the Ospreys again led by eight, 66-58. RSC continued to possess an eight-point margin, 69-61, after a free-throw by Holmes at 2:56. A long three by Coles made it 69-64, and a layup by John trimmed the score to 69-66 with 1:11 left. The teams traded baskets, and Smith added a layup for his 1000th career point with 21 seconds left, giving the Ospreys a five-point, 73-68 cushion.
A layup by Washington with 12 seconds left drew NJCU with two, 73-71, and RSC added one of two free throws with eight seconds left. The second freebie missed, and NJCU quickly drove down the floor, before Freeney could not convert on a game-tying three from the left arc.
After shooting just 24.2 percent in the first half (8-33), the Knights rebounded to shoot 56.7 percent in the second half (17-30), finishing at 25-of-63 (.397). NJCU shot .379 from three-point range (11-29), as the Knights reached double-digits in three-pointers for the ninth time in 19 games. However, NJCU shot 52.6 percent from the field (10-19), while RSC made 18-of-24 from the stripe (75.0%).
Stockton shot 45.6 percent overall (26-57). NJCU had a 33-7 edge in bench scoring, but the Ospreys held a 32-18 difference in points in the paint.
NJCU will visit Kean University on Saturday, February 4 at 3 p.m. in a crucial NJAC game in Union, NJ.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
