New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEW YORK, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's basketball team has struggled to close out games through much of the 2012-13 campaign, but for the second time in three days, the Gothic Knights held off a challenge at the end to prevail. NJCU led by as many as 11 points in the second half before host John Jay College drew within one point on three occasions down the stretch. But NJCU did not allow another point in the final 2:39 of play and held on to win its third consecutive game, defeating the Bloodhounds, 65-62, in a non-conference game on January 14 at The Doghouse.
 
NJCU improves to 7-9 overall and is a perfect 15-0 all-time in the series with John Jay (9-5)—the current second place team in the City University of New York Athletic Conference.
 
John Jay made nine three-pointers in the game and shot 40.9 percent from long range (9-22), but only converted 20 total field goals. NJCU outscored JJC in the paint by a 3:1 ratio, 42-14, and turned 16 Bloodhound giveaways into a 16-2 margin on the fast break and 20-7 in points off turnovers. NJCU also had twice as many second chance points (24-12), thanks to 19 offensive rebounds.
 
NJCU only committed four turnovers in the first half while staking itself to a 40-30 margin at the break and its 12 overall turnovers in the game were tied for the second fewest this year.
 
Four-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) reached double figures for the 12^th time this season, and led the Knights in scoring for the 11^th time as he shot 6-of-10 from the field and chalked up 16 points (four rebounds, two steals) in 28 minutes.
 
Three Gothic Knights reached double figures. Sophomore point guard DAKWAN SIMMONS (Newark, NJ/University) reached double digits for the sixth straight game and seventh time this season, finishing with 10 points (3-7 FG) in 24 minutes, including two key foul shots in the final seconds to ice the game.
 
After scoring a career-high 12 points in NJCU's win over The College of New Jersey on Saturday, junior guard ASMAR EDWARDS (Paterson, NJ/John F. Kennedy) reached double digits for the second time this year, finishing with 10 points (5-12 FG), six rebounds and four steals in 18 minutes. Sophomore power forward DREW MARLEY (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) added eight points (3-8 FG).
 
John Jay senior swingman Isaiah Holman (New York, NY) poured in a game-high 23 points, shooting 9-of-21 overall and 5-of-11 from three-point territory. He scored 17 of John Jay's 32 second half points.
 
Also for the hosts, junior center Oshea Alexander (Brooklyn, NY) had 10 rebounds and five blocked shots while sophomore guard Korede Griffith (Georgetown, Guyana) delivered nine assists, eight points, two blocks and two steals. Senior forward Gary Brady (Bronx, NY) scored eight points, making both threes he attempted.
 
Despite the 23 points, sixth-year head coach Marc Brown praised the defensive efforts of Edwards on Holman. “He scored 23 points but he put up 21 shots and was shooting a high percentage before this game. Asmar did an awesome job containing him.”
 
“A win is a win. We almost gave it away again at the end but we pulled it out. We're going to have to play better at the end of games to beat most good teams but John Jay WAS a good team.”
 
NJCU twice led by 11 in the second half, including 45-34 with 15:43 to go. John Jay, which shot 6-of-9 from three-point range in the second half closed to within four (47-43) two minutes later after a 9-2 run capped by a Holman three. NJCU moved back in front by eight, 53-45, when freshman MATT BREWER (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy) tipped in two of his six points, but the Knights went 2:45 without a field goal and Brady hit a pair of threes in a span of 39 seconds to whittle the NJCU margin to two, 56-54, with 8:44 to play.
 
After shooting 17-for-37 in the first half (45.9 percent), NJCU struggled to hit shots in the final 20 minutes, making just 8-of-25 for 32.0 percent. Meanwhile, John Jay hit nearly half its second half shots (11-23, .478) after going 9-for-29 in the opening stanza (.310).
 
After a basket by Edwards with 8:58 left, NJCU's next field goal came nearly two minutes later when Muhammad sank a jumper for a 58-54 edge. NJCU's defense was able to overcome the offensive lapses by holding John Jay without another point for a span of 3:26 until Holman sank another triple to shave the differential to one, 58-57, with 5:18 to play. Muhammad scored with 4:59 left before Griffith again made it a one-point game, 60-59, with 3:34 on the board.
 
NJCU's next point was a Simmons free throw (61-59) with 3:16 to play. He missed the second chance but sophomore forward KHALID CRAWFORD-MUHAMMAD (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) grabbed one of his five rebounds and Marley scored off a Simmons assist with 2:57 to play to push the lead back to four, 63-59. On its next possession, John Jay again drew within one point, 63-62, when sophomore guard Michael Howard (New York, NY) sank a three to make it 63-62 with 2:39 to play.
 
But John Jay wouldn't score again. The clubs traded three missed shots and with 1:02 to play, Holman, with a chance to tie the game, could not hit a 1-and-1 free throw. John Jay got it back when NJCU turned the ball over. But with 32 seconds to play, Edwards swiped possession from Brady. With 20 seconds to go, Simmons hit the front end of two free throws for a 64-62 edge. He missed the second shot but Crawford-Muhammad seized another critical rebound. Simmons would go back to the stripe with 13 seconds on the clock, missed the first chance but sank the second for a three-point cushion. Holman's potential game-tying three with one second on the clock did not fall as NJCU held on for a three-point decision.
 
In the first half, John Jay jumped out to an early 12-6 and 15-8 lead. Trailing 17-10, NJCU struck for seven straight points to tie it, and the clubs were even at 19-19 and 21-21. A Simmons steal and fast break basket with 9:18 left in the half put NJCU in front and the visitors would not relinquish that lead in the final 29 minutes. Leading 27-25 with 5:56 left in the first half, NJCU scored the next nine points, with Edwards capping the run with back-to-back baskets for a 36-25 margin with 3:06 to go and Edwards turned another steal into two points with 90 seconds left in the opening period for the second of four 11-point leads on the night.
 
NJCU looks for its fourth consecutive win and hopes to take a step closer to the .500 mark on Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. when it visits #12 ranked Ramapo College at the Bill Bradley Center in Mahwah, NJ. Ramapo won the first meeting between the schools in Jersey City, 67-60, on November 20.
 
“We played hard and played well enough to win,” Brown summarized. “But in order to beat Ramapo, at Ramapo, we have to play with less mistakes at the end.”

GAME NOTES:

NJCU and John Jay first meet on December 2, 1975. John Jay played without Jamar Harry, its second-leading scorer (18.2) and top rebounder (8.7). NJCU's low for turnovers this season is 11 at Rutgers-Camden on January 9 and New York University on December 3. NJCU has committed fewer than 20 turnovers in 12 of 16 games this season. The Knights are 6-6 when committing less than 20 turnovers and 4-2 when turning it over between 11-14 times.