New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEW YORK, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University held #21 ranked New York University without a field goal for the final 7:23 of the game and outscored the Violets 12-1 to close the night as the Gothic Knights shocked host NYU, snapping the school's 24-game non-conference  home court winning streak, 60-50, on December 3 at the Coles Sports Center.
 
In the first-ever regular season meeting between the schools that have faced each other five previous times, NJCU (2-4) led 31-24 at halftime, and after NYU (4-1) regained a 49-48 margin with 5:55 left, the Violets missed their final nine shots and committed three costly turnovers.
 
Two-time and reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) reached double figures for the fifth time in six games, finishing with a game-high 17 points (6-11 FG), including 4-for-4 free throw shooting in the final six minutes.
 
Sophomore power forward DREW MARLEY (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) contributed a career-high 11 points (5-8 FG), with three blocks and two assists before fouling out  and freshman power forward MATT BREWER (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy) matched a career best with eight points (4-9 FG), while establishing a personal best with a team-high seven rebounds (five offensive) in 19 reserve minutes.
 
NJCU scored 40 of its 60 points in the paint, outscoring NYU in that category, 40-18. Meanwhile, NJCU's bench provided a 24-5 edge in reserve scoring as the hosts largely utilized a seven-man lineup throughout the game.
 
NYU, ranked #21 nationally in the latest D3hoops.com national poll released earlier in the day, becomes the first ranked opponent NJCU has defeated since an 81-69 home court win over #22 Ramapo College on February 12, 2011 and the Knights knock off a ranked opponent on the road for the first time since a 76-61 win at then #8 ranked Richard Stockton College on December 5, 2009. NJCU leads the all-time series with NYU, 4-2; the previous five meetings all came during the post-season.
 
“It's a big win, obviously,” said sixth-year head coach Marc Brown. “And it's not just a big win because they're a ranked team. We just needed to play well. We have a young team, an inexperienced team. To go on the road and get a win like this against a quality team—its good for our team. We're young and it's a young season. We needed this win to hopefully get on a roll.”
 
“The difference [tonight] is we made shots. We still didn't shoot great but we shot 44 percent and that's great for us. I thought  we wore them down defensively. They play six or seven guys at the most. I thought our defensive pressure hurt them.”
 
For NYU, 6-foot-8 senior forward Carl Yaffe (Bethesda, MD) led the school with a double-double of 14 points (4-11 FG, 1-4 3FG), 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks while senior center Devin Karch (Bayville, NY) had a team high 15 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line, with three assists and two blocks in 22 minutes before fouling out.
 
The Violets (4-1) started the game shooting well, going 7-of-9 from the field to go up 18-8. From there, however, NYU shot just 8-35 (22.9 percent) the rest of the way. NYU shot just .341 for the game (15-44) and 5-of-18 from three-point range (.278).
 
To take that 18-8 lead, NYU knocked down three three-pointers, while utilizing solid ball movement to find open shots. NJCU cut the deficit to 18-13 when Muhammad knocked down a trey from the right arc but two free throws by Yaffe pushed the lead back to seven (20-13) with 13:17 left in the first half.
 
From there, NJCU unleashed an 18-4 run to close the half with a 31-24 advantage. NJCU cut it to 20-19 when sophomore guard DAKWAN SIMMONS (Newark, NJ/University), who scored seven points and added three assists, turned a steal into a fast break spinning jumper in the lane. Each time NYU scored to regain a three-point lead, Brewer answered, including an offensive rebound and tip in, to keep the deficit at one (24-23).
 
“Our guards took care of the ball tonight better than they have been doing,” Brown assessed. “Today was a collctive effort by everybody. We outrebounded them. Their front line was big with a 6-8 center and two 6-6 forwards but we executed on offense and defense and that was key.”
 
NJCU scored the final eight points of the half and took its first lead with 4:10 remaining when senior forward JOSH CAVER (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.), on the Knights' third opportunity, had a putback to make it 25-24, then a pair of free throws two minutes later before Simmons stole the ball with 1:25 on the clock and fed sophomore guard DAVID COLE (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) for a 12-foot jumper and a 29-24 lead. Muhammad added a layup in the final seconds for the 31-24 cushion and Muhammad had a quick bucket to start the second half for a nine-point lead.
 
NYU begin to mount a comeback and senior forward Max Wein (Purchase, NY) twice made it a three-point game, including 41-38 after an offensive board and putback under the rim with 13:28 left before Yaffe scored on a pick-and-roll layup to make it 41-40. NYU eventually tied it at 43-43 on a free throw by senior guard Cory Stockmal (Watertown, MA) with 9:22 to go.
 
With 8:55 left, Marley hit a continuation layup after drawing contact and went to the line for a three-point play (46-43) and scored on a spin move under the basket for a 48-44 advantage. With 7:23 left Yaffe hit another three to make it a one-point game; it proved to be the last made shot for NYU on the night.
 
The clubs traded turnovers and with 5:55 to go, Karch was fouled, hit both shots, and NYU led, 49-48, for the first time since the 4:12 mark of the first half. NJCU quickly regained the lead on a pair of Muhammad free throws and with 4:51 left he alertly called timeout on a loose ball to avoid a turnover. After the timeout, Brewer banked a jumper off the window (4:37) for a three-point edge. With 3:47 left, Simmons drove to the rim, the ball rolled out, but another offensive rebound paid off as junior guard ASMAR EDWARDS (Paterson, NJ/John F. Kennedy) cleaned up the miss for a 54-50 lead.
 
With the game within reach for NYU, a big defensive play by Cole was crucial. After he missed a jumper, NYU had a fast break chance. But Cole sprinted down the floor to knock the ball out of play with 2:57 left and NYU was called for a back court violation on the ensuing inbounds possession. NJCU got the ball back and with one second left on the shot clock (2:19), Muhammad banked a running jumper off the window in the lane for a 56-50 lead. Yaffe missed with 1:14 left and Muhammad sank two more foul shots with 58.5 seconds to go for a 58-50 cushion that sealed the win. NJCU's final 10-point victory was its largest margin in the game.
 
NJCU, 0-3 in conference play, returns to league action on Wednesday, December 3 at 8 p.m. when it visits Richard Stockton College in Galloway, NJ.
 
“We just tried to light a fire under these guys because it's a young season and I keep telling them the season can go downhill pretty quickly and it can get pretty bad it we don't turn things around pretty quickly,” Brown summed up. “This was a great game to turn things around. We're looking forward to going down to Stockton. We will practice tomorrow hard and go down to Stockton on Wednesday.”