New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…Junior All-America guard DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain East (Pa.)) intercepted a pass at half court and laid in a fast-break basket with 1:04 remaining for two of his game-high 22 points, and New Jersey City University closed the final 3:56 of the game on a 12-0 run en route to defeating John Jay College, 66-58, in a non-conference game Wednesday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

NJCU won its second straight to improve to 6-3 overall. John Jay (3-7), dropped its sixth straight game following a 3-1 start. NJCU improved to 11-0 all-time against the Bloodhounds.

 

John moved into 23^rd place in school history with 1,031 points in 66 games, passing Stan Chapman (1009, 1977-81) and Ben O’Neill (1024, 1961-65) on the all-time list. NJCU improved to 16-4 all-time when John scores 20+ in a game.

 

John finished with a game-high 22 points (8-19 FG, 5-14 3FG), along with seven rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes. John scored 14 in the first half, as he shot 5-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. He missed his first three triples before converting four of his next five.

 

Freshman small forward DEREK MILLER (Newark, NJ/East Side) had 13 points (4-7 FG, 4-5 FT) and three steals in 20 minutes. Sophomore forward DASHAN MARTIN (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) provided nine rebounds (six offensive), six points and four assists while senior center MARQUES HILL (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) had eight rebounds. Senior point guard SHY MARTINEZ (Union City, NJ/Union Hill) had eight points.

 

For the Bloodhounds, senior forward Alex Valerio (Flushing, NY/Francis Lewis) had 11 of his team-high 17 points in the first half. He shot 7-of-14 overall and had seven rebounds. Senior forward Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt) nearly had a triple-double, finishing with game-highs of 12 rebounds (nine defensive) and seven assists, along with 10 points (5-9 FG).

 

Also for John Jay, sophomore guard Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic/William Taft) tallied 10 points (4-9 FG) and three assists, while sophomore forward Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY/Alfred E. Smith) finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

 

In a back and fourth first half in which JJC led by as many as seven (17-11), John forced the fourth tie of the period with a three with 40 seconds left. However, the Bloodhounds took a 40-35 lead in the intermission when Gomez hit two free throws and a lay-up, and JJC added a three at the buzzer.

 

John Jay led for much of the second half, including a five-point, 48-43 advantage with 12:55 remaining before threes by Martinez and Miller gave NJCU its first lead since 1:58 left in the first half, as the Knights led 49-48 with 11:07 remaining. Two jumpers by Kased helped the visitors regain a three-point margin before a Miller jumper forced a 52-52 tie (8:16).

 

After another tie, 54-54, Kased had a lay-up and Valerio added a jumper with 3:56 on the board, for a 58-54 advantage, but the Bloodhounds would not score again. JJC missed its final four shots of the game and committed eight turnovers.

 

Hill had a layup with 2:59 left off a Martin feed and Miller sank two free throws with 1:25 remaining to tie the game at 58-58. With 1:04 left, John anticipated a Gomez pass, drove down court and put NJCU ahead 60-58 with a fast-break layup. After being fouled he missed the free throw but was hit again after grabbing the offensive board, and made another free throw with 1:03 left. JJC had possession before Kased committed a turnover with 27.8 left and Martinez converted 3-of-4 from the line in the next five seconds for a 64-58 lead. Miller capped the game with two more foul shots. NJCU’s largest lead of the game was the final score.

 

While NJCU only had a 40-39 rebounding edge, that margin was 19-9 on the offensive glass and the Knights had 18 second chance points. The Knights added 19 points off 22 JJC turnovers. The Bloodhounds outscored NJCU in the paint, 34-14.

 

But NJCU’s three-point shooting was the difference as it made 10 triples (10-29, .345), versus just 2-of-12 (.167) by the Bloodhounds. JJC shot .472 from the field (25-53); the Knights hit 23-of-64 (.359).

 

NJCU returns to action on Monday, December 17 at 7 p.m. in Jersey City when it meets Lycoming College for the second time this season in a non-conference game. Lycoming won the initial meeting in Williamsport, PA, 68-56 on November 27. John Jay next plays in the NYU Tournament on December 29.