New Jersey City University Athletics

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NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University led by 12 at halftime, but could not hold off Rutgers-Newark in the second half and suffered a costly New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division defeat to the rival Scarlet Raiders, falling 73-69 on Wednesday night at The Golden Dome Arena.
 
After starting the season with a 9-1 record and 12 wins in its first 14 games, NJCU lost for the third time in its last five outings and dropped to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in the NJAC. Meanwhile, Rutgers-Newark improved to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the league.
 
Coupled with Ramapo College's 64-63, final seconds win at Montclair State University, NJCU fell into last place in the NJAC North Division with five games—all league games—remaining on the docket. Montclair, Ramapo and Rutgers-Newark are now all tied for second place at 5-3—one game ahead of NJCU and two behind first-place William Paterson University (7-1). NJCU will play each of the NJAC North Division teams one more time. The top three teams in the NJAC North and top three in the NJAC South division earn a trip to the NJAC Tournament under the current two-divisional format. For the Raiders, it was their first divisional victory of the season.
 
NJCU, which leads the all-time series, 58-12, received a career-high 20 points (4-7 FG), including 11-of-14 free throw shooting from junior swingman WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter). He added a team-high nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 37 minutes.
 
NJCU shot 45.1 percent from the field (23-51) and 72.0 percent from the line (18-25) and only committed 14 turnovers. But Newark, which shot 37.3 percent overall (19-51), made a decisive 29-of-36 from the foul line (80.6 percent) and after shooting just 29 percent in the first half (9-31), converted half of its shots in the second period (10-20).
 
Meanwhile, senior guard Pedro Burgos (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee) and junior guard Al'Don Muhammad (Irvington, NJ/Queen of Peace) combined for 32 of their 45 points in the second half.
 
Albright scored 10 points in each half and NJCU received 15 points (6-10 FG) and four assists from senior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter), who made 3-of-4 three-point shots in 38 minutes.
 
Junior swingman KAIHRIQUE IRICK (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) scored nine points but was 3-of-11 from the field. Junior center DAVID JONES (Millville, NJ/Cumberland Regional) had seven points (3-3 FG), eight rebounds and two blocks off the bench.
 
Burgos, a D3hoops.com Preseason All-American, scored a game-high 28 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the field, 5-of-10 from three-point distance, and 11-of-14 from the line in 35 minutes. Muhammad was perfect from the line, knocking down all 10 attempts, and finished with 17 points, five assists and three steals in 36 minutes.
 
Freshman guard/forward Christian Garcia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) finished with a dozen points (5-12) and six rebounds for the Raiders while junior center Hussein Abdelmaksoud (West New York, NJ/Memorial) battled foul trouble and a tall NJCU frontline for a game-high 11 rebounds and seven points (3-5).  Senior guard Greg Moore (Jersey City, NJ/Bayonne) finished with eight points and five rebounds as Rutgers-Newark managed a 33-31 edge in rebounding.
 
Rutgers-Newark outscored NJCU in the second half, 50-34. Burgos netted three of his five 3-point jumpers and made 10 of 12 free throws in the second half; Muhammad had 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
In a physical game which featured 52 personal fouls, the Gothic Knights led 23-10 after 3-point jumper by Williams with 7:13 left in the opening half and Newark never got closer than nine points for the rest of the period with the Knights taking a 35-23 lead to the break.
 
Burgos had three treys and 15 points as the Raiders out-scored NJCU 33-19 to open the second half.  Muhammad, who had nine points on six free throws and a 3-point jumper during the spree, capped the surge with a pair of free throws to give Rutgers-Newark its first lead of the game at 56-54 with 7:14 left after a triple by Burgos had tied it at 54-54 at 7:55.
 
In what amounted to an 11-point swing, NJCU led 54-49 with 8:43 remaining before Newark took its largest lead of the game, 61-55, with 5:30 left on two free throws by Burgos. During that 12-1 run, Burgos scored five points. He also hit a pair of foul shots with 5:05 left for another six-point lead.
 
The Gothic Knights never regained the lead, but they trimmed the deficit to one twice in the closing minutes.  Williams nailed a 3-point jumper with 1:35 left to make it 68-67 before Garcia put the lead back to three with a pair of free throws with 51 ticks left.  Albright hit a layup to make it 70-69 with 23 seconds remaining.
 
After Burgos made the second of two free throws with 15 seconds left, NJCU called timeout with 13.3 seconds left to set up a final shot, trailing 71-69.  But Albright's pass into the lane was deflected and Muhammad came up with the ball and was fouled with 2.5 seconds to go.  He knocked down both free throws to put the game out of reach.
 
NJCU faces a crucial conference game on Saturday, January 28 at 3 p.m. when it faces Kean University in Union, NJ.