New Jersey City University Athletics

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ROCHESTER, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University opened its 80^th season of intercollegiate men's basketball with a nearly brand new cast and a familiar result—a dominant win. NJCU outscored 2012 NCAA Tournament qualifier St. Joseph's College (LI) 12-2 in the final 2:54 of the first half and outscored the Golden Eagles 46-25 in the second period, en route to a 91-58 lopsided decision in the season opener for both schools on November 16 in the opening round of the Nazareth College Tournament at Kidera Gymnasium.
 
NJCU (1-0) will face Nazareth College (1-0)—90-69 winners over SUNY New Paltz in the second game of the opening round—in the championship game of the event on Saturday, November 17 at 8 p.m.
 
NJCU defeated Nazareth, 63-60, in the only meeting in history between the schools last season (December 17, 2011 in Jersey City).
 
St. Joseph's, coming off a successful 2011-12 campaign that included a 21-5 record (17-1 Skyline Conference), are one of three opponents this season that appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament (New York University, St. Joseph's, William Paterson University. It was the first meeting between the schools since December 4, 2004 and NJCU leads the all-time series, 3-0.
 
Rookie shooting guard KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) made the most of his debut, scoring a team-high 18 points (6-10 FG, 2-3 3FG) in 18 minutes while senior center DAVID JONES (Millville, NJ/Cumberland Regional) notched his second career double-double while achieving career highs in points and rebounds, tallying 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 11 rebounds (eight defensive) before fouling out. Muhammad scored 12 in the second half (4-7, 2-2 3 FG).
 
Senior shooting guard NAADIR WILLIAMS (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half and finished the game one shy of his career scoring high, dropping five three-pointers (5-11 FG, 5-9 3FG) in 17 minutes. In the first half he shot 4-of-9—all coming from long range as he hit four of eight from three-point distance.
 
NJCU never trailed in the contest and shot 54.2 percent overall (32-59)—a consistent 53.3 percent in the first half (16-30) and 55.2 percent in the second (16-29). The Knights knocked down 9-of-21 three-point opportunities (.429). NJCU's reserves outscored the Eagles' bench, 47-9.
 
Sophomore shooting guard DAVID COLE (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) added a career-high nine points (3-4 FG) and freshman power forward FARAJI JAMES (Irvington, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) delivered eight points (3-4 FG) in 14 minutes. In all, NJCU had its 14 active players see action and 13 played between seven and 21 minutes.
 
Junior small forward TYREL JOHNSON (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) scored just three points in 11 games last year in his first season at NJCU—and did not score in the final seven games he saw action in—but had a breakout effort in the win, scoring eight points in 13 minutes on 3-of-6 field goals.
 
Sophomore guard Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, NY) led all scorers with 23 points and five steals in 39 minutes, scoring 11 points from the line (11-14) while making 5-of-11 field goals. Rookie guard Wade Richardson (Copaigue, NY) and junior forward Cody Lohsen (Centerreach, NY) each added nine points.
 
Sixth-year head coach Marc Brown was pleased with his team's debut in a season where only one starter returned. “We played hard, our press hurt them and we made out shots. But we made a lot of mistakes and have to correct the turnovers. KHALID MUHAMMAD played well, Naadir shot well, especially from three, and defensively we played real well for stretches. We played a lot of guys tonight and wore them out. That was key and that's how we have to play all year.”
 
NJCU opened an early 15-5 lead in the first half but St. Joseph's twice cut the deficit to two, first at 20-18 midway through the period before the Knights scored nine straight points and led 30-21 after a Williams three. The Eagles whittled the advantage to 33-31 with 3:25 to go.
 
But NJCU broke it open to close the first 20 minutes. Layups by Johnson and Cole, a triple by Williams and an offensive rebound and putback by Jones pushed the Knights' lead into double figures (42-31) and Williams drained a buzzer-beating three to close the half, giving NJCU a 45-33 cushion.
 
The lead stood in double figures the remainder of the contest. Leading 68-51 with 9:08 left, NJCU unleashed a 9-0 spurt to move in front 77-51 on a Muhammad trey. The Knights reserves scored the final seven points of the game and the final 33-point margin of victory was its largest of the game.
 
“I was pleased today,” Brown noted. “I'm always pleased with a win anyways but tomorrow will be a tougher test. St. Joseph's was in our boat [because of Hurricane Sandy]. They didn't practice for 10 days and their gym was actually a hurricane shelter. They didn't get much work in and had a similar setback like we did. But this was a great start to our season and we'll take it.”