New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University junior forward MARQUES HILL (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) registered a double-double, with game highs of 19 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks, and his offensive putback followed by a huge defensive rejection with 1:20 remaining sparked the Gothic Knights to their biggest win of the season, knocking off first-place Ramapo College, 73-66, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division game played Wednesday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

Remarkably, with the victory NJCU (10-7, 5-2 NJAC) moves past Ramapo (14-4, 5-2 NJAC) at the top of the conference standings, after starting the season 0-2 in NJAC competition. Since then, NJCU, which has now won seven consecutive home games at the JMAC, has won five straight conference games. Overall, NJCU wins its fourth consecutive game and for the fifth time in six outings since New Year’s Day.

 

RCNJ, which came into the game as the 30^th ranked team in the latest D3Hoops.com poll, had its five-game winning streak snapped. The 66 total points was RCNJ’s second lowest point total this year.

 

Sophomore swingman DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain East (Pa.)) became the first player on record in the 25-year career of NJCU men’s head coach CHARLES BROWN (474-215) to play a full 40 minutes in a regulation game. The NJAC’s No. 5 scorer, John poured in 16 points (5-14), including 4-of-8 three-pointers, adding six rebounds and four assists. Hill also added three assists and three steals.

 

In all, five players reached double figures for NJCU. Sophomore guard KEVIN TUCKER (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris), who did not play in the first half, subbed into the game for the first time with 14:16 remaining, and came up with 12 points (4-8 FG), including two threes and four rebounds.

 

Senior center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) shot 5-of-7 and scored 12 points in 19 minutes. Senior point guard ALEX MIRABEL (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) played 39 minutes, contributing 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The combined 79 minutes by John and Mirabel are the most by two players in regulation in the Brown era.

 

Ramapo had two players in double figures. Junior guard Ahmad Mosby (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony) had 16 points (5-12 FG), shooting 3-of-7 from deep, with eight defensive rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes. Sophomore forward Tim Wesley (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, with seven rebounds, but also seven turnovers. Senior guard Antoine Pryor (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick’s) had nine points and three assists.

 

NJCU forced 26 Ramapo turnovers, and translated those giveaways into a 25-16 scoring margin, compensating for Ramapo’s 45-34 rebounding edge.

 

DANA JOHN" src="/images/mbasket/2007/1/24/01-20-07%20Dana%20John%201.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Early on, it looked like NJCU may rout their North Jersey rival, as the Knights built leads of 8-2 and 16-6, as Hill and Williams combined to score six points each of the hosts first 12. Three consecutive three-pointers, first by Mirabel, then two by John put the Knights in front, 25-11 with 10:58 remaining.

 

Ramapo responded, unleashing a 19-3 run to actually gain a 30-28 lead with 3:08 left in the period. Junior forward Shawn Frost (Newark, NJ/Our Lady of Good Counsel) scored seven of RCNJ’s next 10 points and a three by Mosby tied the game. NJCU led 34-32 at the half after buckets by John and Mirabel.

 

In a game with seven ties and six lead changes, RCNJ built its largest lead of the night with 14:26, as Pryor and Mosby sank back-to-back threes in 26 seconds. However, Tucker subbed into the game after the shot, and that provided a huge spark for the Knights.

 

NJCU outscored Ramapo 17-3 over a span of 7:31 with Tucker’s addition. He drained a three with 10:10 left to shave the deficit to 49-48, before a Wesley tip-in made it 51-48 at 9:10. However, Tucker stole a pass, drove down court, and after missing his initial shot, made his second-chance lay-up. Hill found Williams underneath for an easy basket with 8:05 left and the Knights never trailed again. A triple by Tucker at 7:04 made it 57-51, and a steal turned into a driving finger-roll by Mirabel at 6:45 for a 59-51 margin.

 

At 5:39, NJCU built its largest second half lead, 64-55, on a fade-away jumper by Hill. Mosby tried to rally the Roadrunners, scoring six straight points, including a trey, shaving the score to three, 66-63. After a lay-up by Williams with 3:39 left made it 68-63, a three-point play by Pryor trimmed NJCU’s advantage to just two, 68-66, with 2:58 on the board.

 

But a lay-up by Tucker off a spinning pass by John with 2:19 remaining put the Knights in front 70-66, and Hill tipped-in a missed NJCU bucket with 1:25 left, making it 72-66. Hill immediately raced down the floor for an enormous block of Pryor at 1:20, before NJCU prevailed by seven.
               

NJCU hit 7-of-15 overall from three-point territory and converted 53.8 percent of its second-half shots, to compensate for a lackluster night at the line (8-20, 40.0%). NJCU shot 48.3 percent overall (29-60), while Ramapo, the NJAC’s top-scoring team at 80.4 per contest, was limited to 41.7 percent (25-60).

 

NJCU will return to action on Saturday, January 27 at 3 p.m. when it visits Rowan University in an NJAC game in Glassboro, NJ. Ramapo visits Rutgers University-Camden at the same time.