New Jersey City University Athletics

The Pioneers (10-1, 2-0 NJAC) win for the eighth consecutive game and defeat NJCU for the third straight meeting. The Gothic Knights lose at home for the first time this year (3-1) and fall to 3-6 overall and 1-2 NJAC. NJCU is 3-6 to open a season for the first time since 1969-70—its last losing season. In a series that began in 1931-32, NJCU still leads 73-58 among known outcomes.

The loss spoiled a tremendous outing for freshman small forward RASHAWN SMALLS (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), the NJAC's leading scorer and a five-time NJAC Rookie of the Week in the first seven weeks of the season. He notched his second career double-double, posting game highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes. Smalls matched his career highs in each category. He tried to will NJCU to victory, scoring nine of its first 19 points. As the game continued, Smalls accounted for 12 of NJCU's first 22 points, 16-of-28 and 23-of-45. Overall, he shot 9-of-16 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep.

WPU had three players in double figures. Senior guard Courtney Nelson (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) had 16 points (5-12 FG) and hit 3-of-4 from three-point distance. Junior guard Joseph Ellis (Newark, NJ/Science) had 12 points and senior forward Jordan Fowler (East Orange, NJ/Montclair) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds. Sophomore forward Shaun Canty (Englewood, NJ/Paramus Catholic) had six boards and three blocks before fouling out.

Junior point guard JOSH LOPEZ (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary's (Jersey City)) finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for NJCU, but was limited to 2-of-7 three-point shooting. Senior guard KYLE INGRAM (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) had eight points, eight rebounds and three steals but was 0-of-9 from long range.

Also for NJCU, freshman forward FARRAKHAN WELLS (Newark, NJ/Westside) had eight points, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Sophomore forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) grabbed seven rebounds.

NJCU led early 13-11 as Smalls (seven points) and Lopez (six points, two threes) accounted for all of the club's scoring. A three by Ellis put WPU ahead 16-13 and junior guard Tim Lucas (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) hit two free throws for a seven point lead (22-15) with 5:35 left.

A bucket by Wells and two Smalls free throws made it 22-19. Smalls, who had only hit two three-pointers in his first eight career games, canned three in defeat. He canned a triple with 4:24 left in the half to cut the deficit to 24-22, before Nelson followed with a three with 3:20 left and a three-point play at 1:35, scoring the final seven points for WPU in the period as the Pioneers gained a 30-24 halftime lead.

Trailing 35-28 with 14:40 to go, NJCU uncorked a 15-4 run over a span of 8:15 and pulled ahead 43-39. Two layups by Ingram and a Smalls three made it a 37-35 deficit before Wells drilled a three from the left corner to tie it at 39-39 with 8:40 left. An Ingram steal allowed him to assist on a fast-break lay-up by Smalls and another WPU turnover led to another basket by Smalls with 6:25 on the clock as NJCU seized its largest lead of the game, 43-39.

But WPU's swarming defense kept Smalls off the board the remainder of the contest. NJCU was only able to attempt five shots the remainder of the game and despite 5-of-6 free-throw shooting during the stretch, couldn't stop WPU from taking the lead.

A Nelson three and Canty jumper gave WPU back a 44-43 lead. Lopez, who is 16-of-18 from the

line this year (.889), made two and NJCU regained a 45-44 edge with 5:11 remaining before Canty hit a pair of freebies for a 46-45 lead with 4:20 left. The Pioneers would not trail again. A three by Nelson at 3:41 and jumper by Ellis opened a six-point, 51-45 margin with 2:27 left and with the Knights forced to foul, WPU hit 6-of-6 from the line to close the game and prevailed by 10, which was its largest lead of the night.

While the Pioneers shot .392 from the field (20-51), its defense limited NJCU to .321 shooting (18-56) and .286 from three-point distance (6-21) forcing the Knights into 25 turnovers. WPU had a 23-15 advantage in points off turnovers and had a 31-3 boost in bench scoring.

NJCU will return to action on Saturday, January 10 at 3 p.m. when it visits The College of New Jersey. WPU travels to Richard Stockton College that day for a 4 p.m. contest.