New Jersey City University Athletics

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MONTCLAIR, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Each time New Jersey City University has needed a big win in men's basketball over Montclair State University in the past two seasons, the Gothic Knights  have gotten it, and Wednesday night was no exception in the 155^th meeting between the schools. Leading by one at halftime, NJCU outscored the hosts 38-22 in the second half, shooting better than 52 percent for the game as the Knights claimed sole possession of second place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division with a crucial 76-59 win over the Red Hawks at the Panzer Athletic Center.
 
NJCU improves to 17-5 overall and 7-4 in the NJAC, winning its third in a row and for the fifth time in six games while sweeping the season series from Montclair (16-8, 6-6 NJAC). MSU leads the all-time series 87-68 since 1932-33, but NJCU has won four of the last five meetings over the last two seasons. The Knights also won the first meeting of the season between the schools, 70-62, on January 11 in Jersey City. MSU has lost its last three games.
 
With two regular season games remaining, the Knights have a one-game lead over both Ramapo College and Rutgers-Newark, both 6-5 in the league and a two-game lead in the loss column over MSU; first-place William Paterson University, NJCU's next opponent, is 10-2 and clinched the top seed on Wednesday. The top three teams in the division qualify for the six-team NJAC Tournament beginning on February 18.
 
“Our guys played with heart tonight and refused to lose and that's what made me more proud than anything,” said fifth-year head coach Marc Brown. “They knew how important this game was. Montclair came out pretty strong. But we played through adversity and played our most complete game as a team. I'm proud of how these guys are sticking together. We saw in the huddle how they really want this as a team.”
 
NJCU shot 52.5 percent overall (31-59) and had five players reach double figures, led by junior swingman KAIHRIQUE IRICK (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) with 21 points (9-20 FG, 2-5 3FG) in 34 minutes, including 12 in the second half. It was his eighth 20-point game of the season and his 12^th time leading the club in scoring.
 
Junior guard MICHAEL MORRIS (Burlington, NJ/Burlington City) was one point shy of a career high, scoring nine of his 15 points in the second half while finishing the game shooting 6-of-7 off the bench.
 
Meanwhile, junior swingman WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) shook off an injury to shoot 5-for-7 and tally 11 points while senior center MATT WASHINGTON (Hackensack, NJ/Paterson Catholic) collected 10 points on 4-of-5 from the field, with six rebounds.
 
Senior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) chipped in 10 points (4-8 FG) and senior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) added seven points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
 
Montclair's top player, senior center Andrew August (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan), the leading scorer in the NJAC at over 21 points per game, was limited to 16 points (5-for-14) in 40 minutes and committed eight of the Red Hawks' 22 turnovers. NJCU only committed 13 turnovers, grabbed 12 steals, and held a 26-14 margin in points off giveaways. NJCU's bench also outscored the Montclair reserves, 25-2.
 
MSU's leading scorer was sophomore guard Daniel Singleton (Neptune, NJ/Neptune), who scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. He shot 9-of-12 in 37 minutes with five rebounds and four assists. MSU freshman guard Dwight Bostic (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark) finished with 12 points (4-7 FG), including 3-of-4 three-point shooting in nearly a full 40 minutes. Sophomore forward Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ/Warren Hills) collected a game-high in rebounds in both meetings this year, finishing with seven boards and six points.
 
NJCU led 38-37 at halftime and opened a pair of four-point leads early in the second half, including 46-42 on a Morris three before Montclair scored six in a row and claimed its last lead of the night, 48-46.
 
But from there, the Knights scored 10 of the next 12 points, including eight straight by Irick, who banged down three-pointers at the 13:00 and 12:01 marks before turning his own steal into a fast-break layup and a 56-50 margin with 11:50 to play.
 
“The press hurt them,” said Brown about NJCU's second half surge. “They really struggled with our full court pressure. We converted the steals into points and those turnovers were key.”
 
MSU, which was celebrating its Senior Day, drew within four, 56-52, before NJCU answered right back, scoring the next six points, capped by a steal and fast break basket by Williams, to push the lead to double figures, 63-53, with 9:52 remaining. The Knights led consistently from there. After a fast-break dunk by Irick off a Williams steal made the lead a dozen, Washington hit a jumper in the lane for a 15-point cushion with 6:35 left (71-56) and Montclair scored just two points the rest of the game. The final 17-point margin was NJCU's largest lead of the contest.
 
In the first half there were three ties and four lead changes. NJCU scored the first five points of the game and led 14-7 with 14:08 left in the period before Montclair stormed back with an 11-0 spurt to take an 18-14 advantage with 10:26 to play. A Bostic three increased the lead to 23-17 before NJCU answered right back, scoring 13 of the next 18 points, claiming a 30-28 lead when Morris converted a layup off a Williams' swipe. Williams also hit a three during the run. NJCU went ahead 34-30 with 3:07 to go in the half on a Morris fast break bucket before Bostic sank another three and August put MSU in front 37-36, with 33 seconds left in the half. Irick grabbed an offensive rebound of his own miss with five ticks left and powered back a layup for the 38-37 halftime edge.
 
NJCU needs to win once in its final two games to clinch an NJAC Tournament berth, and after winning the NJAC Championship last year as the No. 2 seed in the North Division, is in line to clinch the same position in consecutive years. Next on the schedule is the final road game of the regular season at #17 ranked William Paterson on Saturday, February 11 at 4 p.m. in Wayne, NJ.
 
“Our goal was to finish in first in the North [Division] and although that's not going to happen, we want to finish as strong as possible,” Brown noted. “Hopefully we can still finish second in the North and have that first round game at home. We're not looking too far ahead. We're going to take it one game at a time and prepare for William Paterson.”