JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...In what could potentially be their last career game in front of the home crowd, New Jersey City University senior guards JOSH LOPEZ (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary's (Jersey City)) and KYLE INGRAM (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) combined for 19 of NJCU's first 26 points and 37 overall as the Gothic Knights never trailed and won a crucial New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division game against rival Ramapo College, 73-65, on Saturday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on “Coach Charlie Brown Court.”
NJCU (13-10, 5-6 NJAC) wins for the fourth time in five games while limiting Ramapo (17-7, 7-5)—the top scoring offense in the conference at 82.5 per game—to its third lowest scoring output of the season. Mean while, NJCU, which guaranteed at least a .500 or better season with the win, also remains alive in the NJAC Tournament race with two games to go.
NJCU is in fourth place in the division and needs to defeat both Montclair State University (February 15) and #10 William Paterson University (February 17) on the road, while second-place Rutgers-Newark also must defeat Ramapo on February 17 for the Knights to qualify. NJCU leads the all-time series against Ramapo, 59-17; the clubs split the season series with each winning on its home floor.
NJCU, playing its best defense since the 1981-82 season, allowing just over 61 points per game, entered the contest ranked No. 17 nationally in field goal defense and that was on display as Ramapo was limited to by far its lowest percentage of the season, shooting just 30.6 percent (19-62). Its previous low was on January 16 against Kean (.349). In fact, for Ramapo, it was the lowest shooting percentage for a program known for its scoring offense, since shooting 29.4 percent (15-51) versus William Paterson University on January 11, 2006.
On Senior Night and 'Green and Gold Days' at NJCU, Lopez, Ingram and senior point guard PAT DEVANEY (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Augustine Prep) were honored before the game. NJCU improves to 2-5 all-time since Homecoming/Green and Gold Days became a winter activity in 2004.
Lopez, who moved into sole possession of second place in school history with 164 career three-pointers (passing Marc Washington, 2002-06, 160 3FG), notched his eighth career 20-point performance and fourth of the season, finishing with a game-best 22 (6-16 FG, 4-10 3FG, 6-9 FT), including 16 in the first half, while playing 37 minutes.
Ingram, who scored the first eight points of the game, finished with 15 points (5-13 FG, 3-8 3FG) while three-time NJAC Rookie of the Week, freshman power forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus), collected 11 points (4-6 FG) and eight rebounds.
Junior power forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), who has seen limited time in the past two weeks with an injury, collected seven points and seven rebounds (six defensive) in 28 minutes. Junior small forward JOSH CAVER (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.)) played a huge defensive role with four blocks and three rebounds in seven minutes of action.
Meanwhile, NJCU was able to limit Ramapo sophomore center LaQuan Peterkin (Paterson, NJ/Kennedy), the NJAC's leading scorer (17.2 points per game) and the seventh most accurate shooter in Division III (65.7 percent) to his fifth lowest output of the year. He finished with 10 points on 1-of-6 shooting, but was 8-of-11 from the line, adding nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 38 minutes.
Sophomore guard Garret Thiel (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) led the Roadrunners with 19 points (6-18 FG, 6-7 FT) but was 1-of-9 from three-point distance. Sophomore guard Anthony LoRusso (Mahwah, NJ/Don Bosco Prep) had 14 points (5-11 FG, 3-5 FT). Senior guard Andre Kenny (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) tallied nine rebounds, five points and three assists. Freshman guard Travis Conyers (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony) finished with nine rebounds, seven points and four steals.
NJCU, which shot 42.1 percent overall (24-57), surged out to leads of 8-0, 11-2, 16-4 and 21-6, as the Knights, obviously riding the momentum of Senior Night, put on an early shooting clinic. Ingram hit an opening jumper off a feed from Devaney then back-to-back three-pointers in a span of 34 seconds off Lopez assists for an 8-0 margin. Devaney banked in a triple for an 11-2 lead with 15:56 to go before Lopez drilled his first trey with 14:37 left for a 16-4 advantage. Another triple by Lopez extended the early streak to 21-6 with 11:37 to go. That 15-point lead equaled NJCU's largest of the night. Lopez would drain another three with 9:58 remaining for a 26-11 edge.
RCNJ closed within four points late in the half, outscoring NJCU 12-1 over a 4:00 stretch. LoRusso had five points, including a three. But NJCU pushed the lead to eight on a Lopez fast-break basket with 4:51 to go, and led by nine at the half after junior guard ANTOINE ROGERS (Trenton, NJ/Ewing) sank a three with 2:09 on the clock. NJCU led 37-28 at the break, shooting 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from long distance in the period.
Like it did in the first half, NJCU opened the second half with quick points, scoring the first six to regain a 15-point lead, 43-28, with 18:48 remaining, after a layup by Devaney preceded by baskets from McDermott and Johnson. The lead remaining in double figures for much of the opening 10 minutes of the second half and stood at 12, 55-43, on a three-point play by Johnson with 10:07 left.
From there, RCNJ made it more interesting, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to make it a four-point, 57-53 contest with 6:17 left after a three fell for LoRusso. The only NJCU points during the run were an Ingram jumper that made the lead 57-50.
Ingram answered the spurt with a three for a 61-53 margin with 4:57 to go and Lopez sank foul shots for a 63-56 edge, before another three was converted by LoRusso, cutting it to 63-59 with 3:52 left.
NJCU received two important points on a long jumper by Johnson, who has been an interior player all year, with 2:30 to go. That basket made it 66-61 with 2:30 remaining. Thiel converted a pair of foul shots with 1:19 to go, as the lead slipped to three, 66-63. But Caver came up with two enormous blocked shots with 1:04 and 49 seconds left. Johnson hit two free throws for the decisive points, 68-63 with 57 seconds left and the Knights scored their final seven points from the line in the closing minute to preserve an eight-point win. NJCU won despite committing 25 turnovers, its second most this season.
NJCU will next visit Montclair State on Monday, February 15at 8:00 p.m. in a make-up of last Wednesday's contest which was postponed due to snow. Ramapo hosts host Rutgers-Newark on February 17 at 7:30 p.m.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
|
Team Stat Comparison
|
|
|
NJCU
|
RAMAPO
|
|
Score
|
73
|
65
|
|
Half-Time Score
|
37
|
28
|
|
Field Goal Percentage
|
.421 (24-57)
|
.306 (19-62)
|
|
Three-Point Percentage
|
.391 (9-23)
|
.250 (4-16)
|
|
Free Throw Percentage
|
.593 (16-27)
|
.657 (23-35)
|
|
Rebounds (O-D-T)
|
14-32-46
|
16-24-40
|
|
Assists
|
17
|
6
|
|
Turnovers
|
25
|
19
|
|
Blocks
|
9
|
4
|
|
Steals
|
8
|
10
|
|
Fouls
|
29
|
25
|
|
Largest Lead
|
15
|
None
|
|
Points in the Paint
|
20
|
28
|
|
Points off Turnovers
|
24
|
15
|
|
Second Chance Points
|
11
|
19
|
|
Fast Break Points
|
15
|
6
|
|
Bench Points
|
13
|
34
|
