New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University led 28-22 at halftime before being limited to 11 second half points and just 12.5 percent shooting in the period as Rutgers-Newark defeated NJCU, 51-39, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on November 28 at The Golden Dome. R-N had a 31-9 advantage in free throw opportunities and won despite committing twice as many turnovers as the Gothic Knights.
 
NJCU (1-3, 0-2 NJAC), shot 44.4 percent in the first half (12-27), but just 4-for-32 in the second period and 0-for-8 from three-point distance in the final 20 minutes (2-of-14, .143 overall).
 
Rutgers-Newark (3-2, 1-1 NJAC) attempted just 14 second half shots, but converted eight of those tries for a 57.1 percent rate, as the Scarlet Raiders outscored NJCU, 29-11, after halftime.
 
Rutgers-Newark committed 24 turnovers (versus 12 for NJCU), but the Knights were only able to convert those miscues into 12 points. NJCU still leads the all-time series, 58-14 but R-N has won the last three meetings. The rivals will square off again on January 23, 2013 in Jersey City.
 
Sophomore power forward DREW MARLEY (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) had a team-high 10 points (5-9 FG) for NJCU and rookie shooting guard KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) collected nine points (3-10 FG), seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. No other Gothic Knight had more than five points or five rebounds.
 
Senior 6-foot-8 center Hussein Abdelmaksoud (West New York, NY/Memorial) finished with a double-double of 11 points (7-10 FT), 11 rebounds (nine defensive) and three steals while sophomore Christian Garcia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) tallied a game-high 13 points, making 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line. He added eight rebounds (seven defensive).
 
Also for R-N, 6-foot-8 senior center Fateen Belfield (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) chipped in six points and four blocks in 16 minutes off the bench.
 
Discussing the loss, sixth-year head coach Marc Brown commented: “We can't score. We don't have enough scorers. We're relying on young players and when Khalid [Muhammad] doesn't play well, we struggle. There was a serious discrepancy in the foul shooting tonight—31 to 9— but we're just not good now. We had some crucial losses [of players] before the season started and our [returning] veterans are not playing well.”
 
There were four lead changes in the first half. Tied at 20-20, NJCU scored eight of the final 10 points of the period to gain a six-point margin at the half with Marley and Muhammad scoring four points each; the two scoring leaders for the Knights had six points apiece in the first 20 minutes.
 
NJCU did not  score its first points of the second half until a field goal at the 15:31 mark, and after four lead changes, still held a one-point edge, 34-33, after Marley made his second layup of the second half with 13:19 remaining. Abdelmaksoud hit a layup with 12:47 left to give the Raiders the lead for good.
 
From there, NJCU would convert just one field goal the remainder of the contest and R-N outscored the Knights, 18-7, during that span. NJCU missed its next 11 shots and its final 11 attempts of the night—hitting just 1-of-23 from the field in the final 13 minutes.
 
R-N didn't make a field goal itself until a layup by Belfield with 3:55 left made it 45-38, as the hosts went a stretch of 9:52 without a bucket. But R-N made eight foul shots during that drought. NJCU's last point of the game was a free throw with 3:24 remaining that made it a six-point, 45-39 deficit. Another jumper by Belfield with 2:23 left pushed the lead to eight (47-39) and was more than enough for the hosts to prevail.
 
R-N capitalized on NJCU's shooting woes, making 81.3 percent of its second half foul shots (13-16). Its final 12-point margin of victory was its largest lead of the night. R-N's lead didn't reach double figures until 1:40 remained in the game.
 
NJCU will look to bounce back from the loss on Saturday, December 1 at 4 p.m. when it hosts Rowan University in a conference game on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court' at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.