New Jersey City University Athletics

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GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete Feature, KHALID MUHAMMAD 
RAW FOOTAGE OF WINNING SHOT


JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Four-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) hit a running right-handed floater from the right foul line extended as time expired after New Jersey City University inbounded the ball with just 2.1 seconds on the clock and the first buzzer-beating basket by the Gothic Knights in 11 years vaulted NJCU to a 51-50 NJAC victory over rival Rutgers-Newark on January 23 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
Muhammad inbounded the ball from the left baseline, slipped a bounce pass to rookie forward FARAJI JAMES (Irvington, NJ/Bloomfield Tech), then quickly was handed back possession and with three deliberate dribbles, zipped around the top of the key and floated a shot less than a tenth of a second before the red light on the backboard illuminated.
 
NJCU (8-11, 3-9 NJAC) snapped a two-game losing streak while knocking off a Rutgers-Newark (14-5, 8-4 NJAC) squad that had won eight of its last nine games with its only loss during that span coming by a mere point.
 
“There wasn't a lot of time and we wanted Khalid [Muhammad] to catch the ball back on the inbounds and draw to his right and get the best shot he could,” described sixth-year head coach Marc Brown after the exciting conclusion. “We wanted either him or Rondre [Kelly] with the ball in their hands for the last shot.”
 
“It was just exciting. We're not dead yet. It's about time. We deserved a break and deserved to win. We deserved to win a lot of close games [this year] and have always come up short. This is the first time we were on the positive end of one of these plays.”
 
Rookie guard RONDRE KELLY (Union, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz), in his sixth game as part of the program, netted a career-best and game-high 16 points, making 3-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the line in 23 reserve minutes as he reached double figures for the fourth time as a Knight.
 
Muhammad, who did not score in the first half, scored in double figures for the 14^th time in 19 games as his buzzer-beater was his 10^th point on 5-of-12 shooting with a pair of steals.
 
Sophomore forward KHALID CRAWFORD-MUHAMMAD (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield), making just the second start of his career in place of injured starting center DAVID JONES (Millville, NJ/Cumberland Regional), easily amassed career highs in scoring and rebounds with a game-best 14 boards (eight offensive, six defensive) and nine points (2-4 FG, 5-7 FT) in a team-high 35 minutes. It was his second career double-figure rebounding effort and the first time he has ever scored more than four points in a game and he nearly doubled his previous career high of 18 minutes played.
 
Also for the Knights, sophomore point guard DAKWAN SIMMONS (Newark, NJ/University) tallied eight points (3-6 FG), making 2-of-5 three-pointers. James had five blocks and senior forward JOSH CAVER (Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.), making his first start of the season in place of injured forward DREW MARLEY (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia), had three rejections.
 
“You have to give him [Crawford-Muhammad], and Faraji [James] and Josh [Caver] a lot of credit,” praised Brown. “They're backups and came in and played big for us. Their defense was outstanding and they all just did a great job defensively. For backups to play those kind of minutes, that was big time.”
 
The buzzer-beater was the first for NJCU to win a game since February 13, 2002 when Samar Battle had a two-handed baseline dunk of a backdoor pass from Rafi Hargrove with 1.4 seconds left to knock off Montclair State University in overtime.
  
Rutgers-Newark was led by freshman forward David Azoroh (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) with 12 points (5-6 FG) and six rebounds off the bench while senior 6-foot-8 center Hussein Abdelmaksoud (West New York, NY/Memorial) finished with 11 points (2-4 FG), including 7-of-9 foul shooting and six rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Christian Garcia (Freehold, NJ/Freehold), who entered the game as the NJAC's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, was limited to eight points (3-8 FG) and eight defensive rebounds while senior guard Al'Don Muhammad (Irvington, NJ/Queen of Peace) added eight points.
 
NJCU won the game despite shooting 30.0 percent (15-50) from the field in a contest that saw six ties and nine lead changes.
 
The Knights held an early 10-7 lead after Simmons scored five straight points including a three from the left wing and Kelly sank a trey from the corner for a 13-8 advantage. A mid-air tip-in by Crawford-Muhammad made it 17-13 before Simmons drained a fall back three from the left side to give NJCU its largest lead of the game, 20-13, with 7:52 left in the half.
 
R-N responded with a 12-0 run to help build a 25-22 lead at the break as NJCU did not score another field goal in the period. Two foul shots and a layup by Abdelmaksoud allowed the Raiders to regain a 21-20 edge and his two free throws with 1:36 on the clock pushed the advantage to 25-20—the visitor's largest lead—before Caver knocked down free throws with 1:12 to go.
 
NJCU shot just 26.7 percent in the second half (8-30), and 2-of-10 from three-point range but took advantage of its opportunities at the line as the hosts converted 11-of-12 for 91.7 percent.

After not taking a single shot in the first half while playing just five minutes after acquiring a pair of quick fouls, Muhammad scored his first points of the game just 13 seconds into the second half and an offensive foul and tip-in by Crawford-Muhammad put NJCU back on top, 26-25. The Knights opened the period on an 8-0 run as Muhammad scored six points during the streak, including a steal and jumper with 16:50 on the clock for a 30-25 cushion. His eighth point came with 12:40 to play on a spinning layup off the window to maintain a four-point advantage.
 
R-N would eventually draw even on an offensive rebound and follow by Azoroh (36-36) and a 9-0 run capped by a three by sophomore guard John Snow (Newark, NJ/Montclair Kimberley (Seton Hall) gave the guests back a five-point margin, 41-36, with 6:17 left.
 
Two foul shots by Kelly with 5:46 to go snapped a nearly seven-minute span between points for the Knights and after a fast break bucket by R-N pushed the lead back to five, Kelly banged home a triple from the left corner to draw NJCU back within two, 43-41—the host's first field goal in a span of 7:39. Crawford-Muhammad tied it when he converted two foul shots with 4:14 to go. Abdelmaksoud gave R-N back a two-point edge with two from the line before Kelly drilled yet another three from the left arc with 3:04 to play for a one-point, 46-45 differential. Garcia evened the game with the back end of two free throws at 2:36.

The Knights had three opportunities to regain the lead in the final two minutes but could not cash in, before Al'Don Muhammad missed a three with 26 seconds to go, Crawford-Muhammad grabbed his 14^th rebound and Abdelmaksoud fouled him on a reach in. Crawford-Muhammad made his first attempt to put NJCU back on top, 47-46, but missed the second and junior guard ASMAR EDWARDS (Paterson, NJ/John F. Kennedy) seized a key offensive rebound. R-N was forced to foul and Kelly buried both chances for a 49-46 margin with 21.0 on the board.

After an R-N timeout, Al'Don Muhammad drove to the basket and hit a short jumper and after drawing contact, was sent to the line. He missed with a chance to tie the game but with 9.2 to go, Azoroh was there for the offensive rebound and turn-around layup off the window to put the Raiders back on top. NJCU called timeout but could not get a shot off and utilized its last timeout to draw up the winning play.

“This win keeps us alive,” Brown summarized. “Each game is vital and we have to win just about every game. This is just one game so now we just have to prepare for Kean. We have a seven-game season now and we have to win about six to have a chance for the playoffs. We have a lot of work to do.”
 
NJCU is back on the floor on Saturday, January 26, at 3 p.m. when it visits Kean University in a conference game at Harwood Arena.