New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete feature, FARAJI JAMES
ALL-TIME GREEN & GOLD DAYS RESULTS


JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University opened the second half on a 16-2 run and behind four players scoring in double figures for the first time this season, the Gothic Knights held on to overcome a late rally by The College of New Jersey, 66-62, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball game on January 12 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
In the most balanced scoring attack of the season, NJCU (6-9, 2-7 NJAC) shot 64.7 percent in the second half (11-17) and 52.5 percent overall (21-40), led by sophomore power forward DREW MARLEY (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia), who posted a career high in consecutive games as NJCU won its fourth consecutive 'Green and Gold Day' game. The Knights have won back-to-back conference games after starting the league slate at 0-7. TCNJ fell to 4-11 (2-7 NJAC) with the loss.
 
Marley, who had established a then-career high 12 points in a win at Rutgers University-Camden on Wednesday, scored in double figures for the fifth time this season, using his size and strength to dominate inside, where he netted a career-best 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting with a stellar 8-of-10 foul shooting and six rebounds in 32 minutes. He had only attempted 17 free throws in his first 14 games this season prior to Saturday night.
 
Sophomore point guard DAKWAN SIMMONS (Newark, NJ/University) continues to impress as he reached double figures for the fifth straight game and sixth time this season, scoring 10 of his 13 points in the second half. He shot 4-of-7 overall, including 3-of-6 from three-point range and made two key foul shots in the closing moments while  logging 32 minutes.
 
Four-time NJAC Rookie of the Week KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) also shot 4-of-7 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line, producing 13 points, four rebounds and two assists but was limited to 21 minutes with an injury that knocked him out of the game with 11:34 remaining. He did chalk up his 11^th double-figure effort of the season.
 
Junior guard ASMAR EDWARDS (Paterson, NJ/John F. Kennedy) also contributed a career high, reaching double figures for the first time as a Gothic Knight with 12 points (4-6 FG), six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 25 minutes. Newcomer and rookie guard RONDRE KELLY (Union, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) added seven points (3-7 FG), two assists and two steals in 21 minutes in his second game since joining the squad this week.
 
After the close win, sixth-year head coach Marc Brown said: “We just don't have enough experience right now and we're struggling to close out games. The good news is we closed this one out. We've been losing a lot of games like this one in the past. Fortunately, we were able to pull out the victory.”
 
On the play of DREW MARLEY, Brown added: “He played well; he really improved and played well defensively. I also thought our 'bigs' did a good job defensively. KHALID CRAWFORD-MUHAMMAD (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield), JOSH CAVER (Trenton, J/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.), and FARAJI JAMES (Irvington, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) played well collectively as a group defensively, especially at the end.”
 
TCNJ also shot 52.2 percent in the second half (12-23) and finished at 45.7 percent for the contest (21-46) while it also saw four players reach double figures in the scorebook.
 
Sophomore forward Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) led the Lions with 14 points (5-11 FG; 2-5 3FG) with three assists and sophomore guard Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) chipped in 10 points (3-8 FG), six assists and five steals.
 
Senior guard William Lester (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) came off the bench to shoot 3-of-7 from the field—all from three-point range, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds while junior guard Matthew Rista (Point Pleasant, NJ/St. Anthony's) added 10 points (4-9 FG; 2-6 3FG). Sophomore guard Emmanuel Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) finished with eight points (3-5 FG). The rest of the lineup scored just eight points.
 
TCNJ never led in the game, but managed to keep it close throughout the first half when there were a pair of ties. NJCU scored the first six points until TCNJ evened it at 10-10. The Knights regained the lead and moved in front 17-12 on a steal and fast-break layup by Edwards. TCNJ cut it to two before Simmons drilled a straight-away triple for a 22-17 edge (5:03). The Lions answered with a three by Rista to make it a 23-22 game and tied it with 1:09 left in the period when Lester was alone in the left corner and sank a three off a Johnson baseline crosscourt pass.
 
A strong finger roll and three-point play by Muhammad with 41.4 seconds to go in the period gave NJCU a slim 30-27 edge at the intermission. Muhammad (nine points) and Marley (eight) accounted for 17 of NJCU's first half production.
 
NJCU stormed out of the second half and quickly built a 17-point, 46-29 advantage when Kelly drilled a trey from the right wing to cap a 16-2 run to open the half and 19-2 since Muhammad's three-point play at the end of the first half. Simmons scored the first five points of the half, including a three that made it 35-29. A fast-break reverse layup by Muhammad from Marley made it 37-29 and Edwards slashed to the hole off a Simmons bounce feed to make it a 10-point cushion. A steal and fast-break dunk by Muhammad made it 43-29.
 
NJCU still led by double figures, 46-35, when Muhammad was forced to leave the game and did not return but the rest of the lineup appeared like it would manage without the presence of its leading scorer.
 
After TCNJ whittled the lead to nine three times, Simmons buried a three with 7:57 left for a 55-43 lead, on an inside-out pass from Marley.
 
TCNJ began to mount a comeback. Lester hit a three from the left wing at 7:13. NJCU pushed the cushion back to 11 with 5:27 to go on an Edwards layup underneath off a Kelly bounce back with the shot clock winding down. NJCU's lead was 60-50 with 3:55 left after a made foul shot.
 
But the Lions continued to fight back as Lester hit another three from the left wing, and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass, finding Johnson for another quick layup. He was fouled and after a timeout, completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to 60-54 with 3:29 to go. After a Marley free throw, freshman forward Mitch Miller (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) rebounded a missed three and put it back to make it a 61-58 game with 1:57 left.
 
NJCU turned it over and TCNJ missed back-to-back threes before Caver grabbed a rebound and called timeout. With 41.0 to go, Simmons missed a three but Marley made perhaps his biggest basket as a Gothic Knight, grabbing the rebound and laying in a putback that rolled in off the front of the rim for a 63-58 and the eventual winning points.
 
The Lions weren't done. With 28.0 to go, Lester sank two foul shots and Johnson stole the ball back for the visitors with 23 seconds left, leading to a layup by Matlock that shaved the deficit to one, 63-62. TCNJ was forced to foul and with 14.5 seconds left Simmons sank his only two foul shots of the game for a 65-62 edge. Fox missed a potential tying three but NJCU turned the ball over. On the inbounds, TCNJ made an errant pass into the backcourt and the Lions stepped out of bounds in front of the NJCU bench with 1.8 seconds left. Marley hit one foul shot to ice it.

NJCU is back in action on Monday, January 14 at 7 p.m. when it faces John Jay College in a non-conference game at the 'Dog Pound' in New York, NY.