New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

MAHWAH, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior swingman KAIHRIQUE IRICK (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) scored a career-high 27 points and forced the 10^th tie of the night with a three with 44 seconds left in the first overtime, before Ramapo College answered with a three of its own and held off the Gothic Knights, 78-74, in a back-and-forth New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division men's basketball game on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.
 
The loss is just the second of the season for NJCU (9-2, 1-1 NJAC) as the Knights lose for the first time in league play. Ramapo (11-3, 2-1 NJAC) won its fifth in a row. NJCU leads the all-time series, 60-19.
 
NJCU trailed by 10 points early in the second half before forcing six of the seven ties that came in the second half. Senior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) gave NJCU a three-point, 69-66 lead 1:12 left in regulation before Ramapo answered with a three by junior guard Jermaine Emanuel (Englewood, NJ/Laney) for the seventh tie, to force overtime.
 
Ramapo led 74-69 with 1:13 to play in the extra session before Irick knocked down a jumper five seconds later and tied at 74-74 with a three. But junior guard Will Sanborn (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) responded with a triple with 28.9 seconds left to put Ramapo back in front.
 
NJCU dominated the glass, out-rebounding Ramapo 51-32, but the Knights committed a season-high 24 turnovers in a game where each squad had comparable field goal and three-point percentages.
 
Irick, who scored over 20 points for the fifth time this season, shot 10-of-17 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point distance, finishing with a game-high of 27 points, including 22 in regulation and 16 in the second half.
 
Senior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) netted 15 points (6-13 FG), with six rebounds, four assists and three steals and junior swingman WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter)  finished with 11 points (5-12 FG) and nine rebounds in a career-high 43 minutes of action.
 
Junior DAVID JONES (Millville, NJ/Cumberland Regional) notched his first career double-double, finishing with career bests of 10 points (4-6 FG) and 10 rebounds. His previous highs were six points and four rebounds.
 
Sanborn led the hosts with 23 points (9-20 FG), including 5-of-11 three-point shooting and three assists. Junior guard Garret Thiel (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) notched 21 points (8-17 FG), seven rebounds and five steals in 43 minutes.
 
Emanuel added 11 points (2-7 3FG), five steals and three assists at the point guard slot and junior forward Stephon Treadwell (Newark, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) reached double figures with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting (2-2 FT).
 
Fifth-year head coach MARC BROWN, who enjoyed a successful 16-year professional career before coming to NJCU, was critical of his team's play.
 
“I've been playing a long time and if you play as long as I have been, you can tell in a guy's eyes when he is scared. We lacked heart. We were getting back into the game, but when it counted, they [Ramapo] wanted it more. That was the biggest disappointment from this loss. Many of the turnovers came from guys being nervous and not having the heart to finish the game. That's tough to swallow. Sanborn [for Ramapo] had that killer instinct today.”
 
In a match-up of the conference's top defensive team—NJCU, allowing 62.5 points per game—and the leading offensive unit, with Ramapo averaging 80.8 points—Ramapo led for much of the night.
 
NJCU scored the game's first five points before Ramapo took a 12-9 lead on a Sanborn triple at the 15:05 mark. Ramapo expanded the lead to 21-13 on a Sanborn jumper at the end of a 9-1 run. NJCU trimmed the deficit to 27-25 with 5:45 to play in the period before Sanborn sank another three and a Thiel jumper at 3:50 extended Ramapo's lead  to nine (35-26). RCNJ continued to lead 40-31. A three-point play by Jones made it a four-point game with five seconds to play in the half before an undefended tip-in by freshman forward Loren Jackson (Eatontown, NJ/Monmouth Regional) at the buzzer made it 42-36 at halftime.
 
Ramapo quickly scored the first four points of the second half to claim its largest lead of the game, 46-36, 1:23 into the second stanza. NJCU responded with a 10-0 run for the first of many ties in the second period, with Irick scoring four points before assisting on a layup by Albright that knotted the contest at 46-46 at the 15:38 mark, setting up a see-saw battle for the rest of the night.
 
Sanborn quickly put RCNJ back on top with a three before NJCU tied it at 49. The Knights would force the fifth tie of the game at 57-all with 7:33 left but couldn't gain a lead. Emanuel hit the first of two threes in the final minutes for a 60-57 margin before Williams evened it at 60-60. Two free throws by Thiel (6:37) and a steal by Emanuel that set up a fast-break basket by Sanborn made it 64-60, before Irick buried another three at 4:03 and Jones sank the back end of two foul shots to tie it at 64-64.
 
Thiel put Ramapo ahead 66-64 with a driving layup before Irick forced the eighth tie with a jumper at 2:06 for a 66-66 deadlock. After Ramapo missed a three, NJCU finally pulled in front for the first time since the 16:14 mark of the first half when Abdullah drilled a three—his only field goal of the game—from the right sideline for a 69-66 edge before Emanuel would force a ninth tie with 43 seconds to play. After a timeout, NJCU had possession with a chance to move in front before a low pass led to a turnover on the Knights and the sides went to overtime knotted at 69-69 after neither school could get a shot off in the final moments.
 
Ramapo scored a lone free throw in the first 2:39 of the overtime period before a Treadwell layup at 2:21 and a Sanborn jumper with 1:13 remaining gave RCNJ a five-point lead, 74-69. Irick put NJCU on his back, netting a jumper and three to tie it at 74-74. Sanborn's straight away three with 28.9 left proved to be the difference and Thiel made one free throw with eight seconds left to ice it.
 
“Our lack of concentration coming out of timeouts was a factor,” Brown noted about the loss. “Ramapo also hit some big threes and the one at the end of regulation told the story of the game. We were up [69-66] and had just finished saying to get out [defensively] on the three-point shooters. Even if we got beat on a two-pointer, we're still ahead.”
 
NJCU will seek its 10^th win of the season when it travels to Camden, NJ on Saturday, January 7 at 3 p.m. to face Rutgers University-Camden in an NJAC matchup.