New Jersey City University Athletics

AUDIO: ARCHIVED GAME BROADCAST (1st Half)

AUDIO: ARCHIVED GAME BROADCAST (2nd Half)

 

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…Ramapo College used a 15-2 run over a 5:56 span late in the second half to overcome a DANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain East (Pa.)) inspired comeback, as the Roadrunners forced a four-way tie for second place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division, with a 70-61 victory over New Jersey City University, Wednesday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. RCNJ outscored the NJCU in the paint, 38-10, and had a 40-6 advantage in bench scoring.

 

After opening the season 4-0 in the NJAC, the Gothic Knights (13-8) have dropped four of their last five league games, and at 5-4 in the conference, are now deadlocked with Montclair State University, Rutgers-Newark and Ramapo in second place in the NJAC North Division, behind William Paterson University (8-0), with four NJAC games remaining. The top three in each division reach the six-team NJAC Tournament. Ramapo is 11-9 and 5-4.

 

NJCU leads the all-time series, 57-15 but had its three-game regular season winning streak over RCNJ snapped, with each school winning on the opponents’ floor this year. NJCU dropped back-to-back home games for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

 

John, a junior All-American, scored a game-high 27 points (9-18 FG; 5-11 3FG) with four boards in 38 minutes, but NJCU’s five-game winning streak when he scores 20+ was snapped. NJCU is 18-5 all-time and 6-3 this year when he reaches that plateau.

 

Now with 1,199 points, John passed Bob Johnson for 16^th place on NJCU’s all-time scoring list; Johnson had 1,178 points from 1968-71. John scored 12 of NJCU’s first 18 points and 14 of 27.

 

Junior guard KEVIN TUCKER (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) had 14 points, including 4-of-8 three-point field goals and seven assists, while senior center MARQUES HILL (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) collected eight points and six rebounds. The nine others players who saw time combined for just 12 points on 6-of-20 shooting.

 

Four players hit in double figures for RCNJ, led by freshman guard Ahmad Hassan (Edgewater, NJ/Leonia) who scored 14 points in 24 minutes (5-10 FG; 3-7 3FG) off the bench. Senior center Omar Alston (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) had a double-double of 11 points (4-10 FG) and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Tim Wesley (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) ended with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

 

Also for RCNJ, sophomore center Camel Drummond (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) finished with 10 points (3-3 FG; 4-4 FT) and seven caroms in 15 minutes and sophomore forward Andre Kenny (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had eight points (4-7 FG) and five rebounds.

 

In a first half with five lead chances, NJCU held a 25-20 cushion with 6:40 remaining. But Ramapo uncorked a 16-2 run to build a 36-27 behind eight points and two triples from Hassan, including one that banked home for the nine-point margin. RCNJ led 36-30 at the break.

 

John, who had 13 in the second half, tried to single-handedly will NJCU to victory, nailing back-to-back triples in a span of 23 seconds as the Knights pulled with two, 44-42, with 12:56 left, before freshman power forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) tied it (46-46) on a fast-break layup with 10:53 remaining. RCNJ regained a 49-46 lead before John pulled up for a fast-break three-pointer off a Ramapo giveaway to tie it 49-49 with 9:50 left.

 

But from there, Ramapo outscored NJCU 15-2 over the next 5:56, as NJCU made just 1-of-6 field goals. A three by Hassan and two Alston foul shots made it 54-49 before Hill hit a jumper (54-51). That was as close as NJCU would come. Four free throws by Wesley and two layups by Drummond sandwiched around a Hassan jumper gave the Roadrunners a 64-51 margin with 3:54 left before RCNJ prevailed by nine.

 

Ramapo, which out-rebounded NJCU, 42-25, won despite NJCU knocking down nine three-pointers (9-25, .360), while RCNJ shot 18.8 percent (3-16). But NJCU had its worst night from the line this year, shooting 6-of-15 (.400).

 

NJCU returns to action on Saturday, February 9 at 3 p.m. when it travels to Rutgers University-Camden in an NJAC inter-divisional game in Union, NJ. Ramapo hosts The College of New Jersey at the same time.