BOX SCORE
BRONX, NY (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...In the first meeting in more than a decade between New Jersey City University and Lehman College, senior point guard JOSH LOPEZ (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary's (Jersey City)) posted a season-high by scoring 27 points—all in the second half—and two-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week selection, freshman power forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) tallied 12 of the Gothic Knights' first 25 points as NJCU snapped a five-game losing streak with a 68-58 win over the Lightning, in a non-conference men's basketball game on Monday night at the APEX.
The two schools were playing for the first time overall since November 20, 1999 and in the Bronx since December 20, 1988. NJCU leads the all-time series, 7-1 and has won the previous five meetings.
NJCU (6-6) won for the first time since upsetting then #8 ranked Richard Stockton College on the road on December 5. Lehman (4-11) dropped its third in a row.
For Lopez, who netted his sixth career 20-point performance and second of the season, the 27 points were the second highest scoring total of his career and the most he has ever scored in a regulation game or one half. On January 28, 2009 he notched 36 points in a 92-88, double-overtime win at Rutgers-Newark, but had 24 at the end of regulation.
Lopez had started 36 consecutive games since the beginning of the 2008-09 season but came off the bench in this contest as the starting lineup was juggled after NJCU dropped its last five games. Lopez responded in amazing fashion. After going 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, he shot 9-of-13 in the second half and 5-of-9 from three-point distance in just 19 minutes. He finished the game shooting 9-of-16 from the floor, 5-of-12 from long-range and 4-of-7 from the line, adding four steals and three assists in 32 minutes.
Lopez' 27 points are the most by any NJCU player in one half since eventual NJAC Player of the Year and All-American Samar Battle chalked up 27 in the first half at Montclair State University on February 21, 2004.
Johnson scored 12 of first 25 points, opening the contest by shooting 3-of-3 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line. He finished with 14 points (4-5 FG, 6-9 FT) and seven rebounds. Junior power forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) registered a season-high 12 rebounds, reaching double figures in caroms for the third consecutive game, fourth time this season and eighth time in his three-year career. He added two blocks. Freshman small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) contributed 10 points (3-11 FG, 4-6 FT) and junior small forward JOSH CAVER (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Pa.)) rejected three blocks.
Three players reached double figures for the Lightning. Sophomore forward Jonathan DeJesus (Hormigueros, Puerto Rico) had a double-double with 15 points (5-11 FG, 5-10 FT) and 14 rebounds (10 defensive). Junior point guard Xavier Garvin (Bronx, NY) had a team-best 17 points on 11-of-14 free throw shooting, but was 3-of-12 from the field. Freshman guard Quaseem Weems (Beacon, NY) finished with 10 points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG).
In all, there were 21 lead changes and eight ties in the game. In the first half alone, the lead seemed to change hands on every possession, with 14 changes and seven ties. NJCU had the largest lead of the opening half when Johnson had a basket with 7:53 left and later added two foul shots for a five-point margin, 21-19, with 6:44 to go. But Weems sank a pair of triples, the second basket tying it at 25-25, and the teams headed to the intermission knotted at 29-29.
Lehman scored the first four points of the second half for its largest lead of the game (33-29) and the hosts maintained a 43-39 cushion with 12:02 remaining.
From there, NJCU unleashed a 16-1 run behind Lopez, who scored 27 of NJCU's 39 second half points and nearly as many as the entire Lehman roster, which had 29 points in the second half. He had 13 of NJCU's 16 points during the run, sinking three triples. His jumper with 10:52 left put NJCU in front to stay before junior shooting guard COREY DIXON (Linden, NJ/David Brearley) extended the lead to 47-43 with a trey. Lopez then scored eight consecutive points over a span of 76 seconds, nailing two threes and a jumper, as the Knights surged out to an 11-point cushion, 55-44.
NJCU led by as many as 11 three times in the second half, including 61-50 lead with 2:08 remaining. Lehman made it interesting late, cutting the margin to four (62-58), with 48 seconds on the board as Garcia scored seven points—five from the line—during an 8-1 spurt. But Lopez capped his night with four free throws down the stretch as NJCU prevailed by 10.
NJCU out-rebounded the Lightning, 45-37, including 17-9 on the offensive glass and only committed 14 turnovers in the contest.
NJCU returns home on Wednesday, January 13 at 8 p.m. for an NJAC game against Montclair State University.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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|
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NJCU
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LEHMAN
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Score
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68
|
58
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Half-Time Score
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29
|
29
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Field Goal Percentage
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.361 (22-61)
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.347 (17-49)
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Three-Point Percentage
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.240 (6-25)
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.333 (3-9)
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Free Throw Percentage
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.600 (18-30)
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.700 (21-30)
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Rebounds (O-D-T)
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17-28-45
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9-28-37
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Assists
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8
|
10
|
|
Turnovers
|
14
|
21
|
|
Blocks
|
5
|
2
|
|
Steals
|
9
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5
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Fouls
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22
|
23
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Largest Lead
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11
|
4
|
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Points in the Paint
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20
|
20
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Points off Turnovers
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17
|
11
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Second Change Points
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14
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9
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Fast Break Points
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Not Tracked
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by Lehman
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Bench Points
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40
|
21
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