New Jersey City University Athletics

NJCU's Mercer County connection, junior small forward JOSH CAVER (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, PA)) and junior small forward ANTOINE ROGERS (Trenton, NJ/Ewing) combined for 25 of NJCU's 36 bench points.

 

Lopez shot 5-of-8 overall, draining 4-of-7 from three-point distance, while converting 7-of-8 free throws for his 21 points. Caver also shot 7-of-8 from the line, finishing with 13 points (3-7 FG) in 22 minutes while Rogers (4-9 FG, 4-6 FT) collected 12 points and six rebounds.

 

Also for NJCU, sophomore center TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) tallied eight points (2-5 FG, 4-5 FT) and three assists and rookie power forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) added seven points. Freshman small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) had four assists before fouling out.

 

Senior point guard Ryan Hennessey (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) had a game-high 26 points on 8-of-19 shooting, connecting for seven threes (7-14) in 39 minutes.

 

CSI also received 15 points (5-5 FG, 5-9 FT) from junior center Michael Ledbetter (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) and 14 points (4-6 FG, 6-8 FT) from sophomore forward Jordan Young (Asbury Park, NJ/Wall). Senior forward Christian Montervino (Trenton, NJ/Ewing) finished with eight rebounds and four assists before becoming one of three Dolphins to foul out.

 

NJCU won the game from the foul line where it converted 33-of-46 foul shots—a 71.7 percent success rate—to overcome CSI's 21-of-29 free throw evening (.724).

 

In a back-and-fourth first half with five lead changes, no side held a margin of greater than five. A Lopez jumper made it 35-32 with 2:04 left before the Dolphins scored the final six points of the period for a 38-35 halftime edge.

 

NJCU scored the first five points of the second half and gained the lead just 2:52 into the period on a lay-up by junior power forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) off a feed from Albright. Young tied it with two foul shots before NJCU pushed the lead back to five, 45-40. CSI tied it at 46-46 on a Ledbetter jumper. NJCU would continue to lead by up to three points before the Dolphins tied it again at 53-53 with 9:32 left.

 

Lopez drilled a three with 9:07 remaining for a 56-53 edge and the Knights wouldn't surrender the advantage. Hennessey cut it to 57-56 with a triple before a Caver jumper and two Lopez free throws pushed the score to 62-56. A lay-up by Caver made it 64-57 with 6:20 left. Hennessey would get the visitors within three, 67-64, with a three-pointer with 2:39 remaining before Rogers had a lay-up and senior shooting guard KYLE INGRAM (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) tacked on two foul shots for a 71-64 cushion. Caver gave NJCU its first 10-point lead with two free throws before the Knights won by that margin.

 

NJCU is back in action on Monday, November 30 at 7 p.m. in a non-conference home game against St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn). CSI plays again on Tuesday, December 1 at New York City College of Technology at 7:30 p.m.