New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights feature, Andrew Martinez

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | For most of regulation, New Jersey City University, for the second year in a row, was on pace for a historic defensive effort against Rutgers University-Camden. The result became historic, but not without unexpected drama. In what is initially believed to be the lowest scoring overtime game in men's college basketball history during the shot clock era, NJCU turned the ball over under its basket with six seconds remaining but Rutgers-Camden could not hit a contested jumper at the end and NJCU survived, 39-38, in New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball on January 15 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
A loss by 5^th place NJCU (8-6, 4-4 NJAC) at home to 10^th place Rutgers-Camden (3-12, 1-7 NJAC) may have been detrimental to the Gothic Knights near the midway point of a tight playoff race. But NJCU survived for its 17^th consecutive win over the Raptors, running the Knights' all-time record to 55-4 in 59 meetings. NJCU has won 45 of the last 46 matchups.
 
NJCU registered its lowest known scoring total in a victory in more than 72 years. Midway through the 1941-42 season then Jersey City State Teachers College edged Paterson Teachers College (now William Paterson University), 37-33.
  In the last meeting between the schools on February 13, 2012—also in Jersey City—NJCU limited Rutgers-Camden to the lowest scoring output since January 5, 1952, prevailing easily, 62-33. At halftime, a similar defensive outcome was possible, with NJCU leading 19-15.
 
In a second half where points continued to come at a premium, NJCU maintained a 35-27 lead with 5:27 to go. NJCU's scoring defense, which entered the game ranked 15^th of 410 schools in Division III at 61.4 points per game, had to hold because the Knights' 396th-ranked scoring offense did not score again.
 
"An ugly win is an understatement," said seventh-year head coach Marc Brown, the reigning NJAC Coach of the Year, describing the outcome. "But the bottom line is it is a win. That's what I'm going to focus on. I've never been so frustrated around the game of basketball in my life, as a player or a coach."
 

Jumpers by junior guards Alex Smart (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) and Jason Richardson (Cedarbrook, NJ/Winslow Township) made it a two-point game with 2:25 to go before junior guard/forward Teon Russell (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson), the reigning NJAC Player of the Year, hit a turnaround jumper with 1:28 left to make it a 35-33 contest.
  In a game with 45 combined turnovers (Camden 24, NJCU 21), the Knights would turn the ball over twice in the final minute but was bailed out by its defense. With 56.8 seconds left NJCU called timeout but junior shooting guard Jamall McDaniel (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln), in his first game for NJCU after joining the team on Monday, turned the ball over with 54 seconds left.
 
A layup try by Russell was blocked by senior small forward Walik Albright (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter). Russell missed the putback and the Raptors dove on a loose ball and called timeout with 30 seconds remaining. A layup attempt by Smart was swatted away by senior power forward Khalid Crawford-Muhammad (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) with 24 seconds to go and NJCU regained possession with the hosts clutching a two-point lead.
 
Rutgers-Camden had only committed two fouls in the half and had to quickly increase that total. Three fouls later, NJCU faced a sideline inbounds pass and McDaniel's dish was wide and out of play, giving Camden another chance to tie. After a timeout with 11.3 seconds to go, the Raptors drove down court and Schneider hit a game-tying jumper from the right wing with 3.5 ticks left to force the 60^th overtime period in NJCU history.
 
Each team hit just one field goal in overtime. NJCU made two foul shots (2-4) in the extra stanza while Camden just one (1-2), and that reluctant offense proved to be enough.
 
Sophomore shooting guard Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) hit the front end of two foul shots early in the extra period before Russell knocked down a jumper with 3:44 to play to give R-C its first lead of the night. Albright took back the lead with a driving layup with 3:21 left for a 38-37 advantage. Russell tied the game (38-38) from the line at 2:02 before missing the back end shot. With 1:35 remaining, Muhammad missed a three, junior power forward Drew Marley (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) sank the first of two free throws with 1:31 on the board and NJCU led 39-38. There would be no further scoring.
 
In a game that will be remembered for its low scoring during the shot clock era, with 55 seconds left, Camden committed a shot clock violation. With 24 seconds left, junior point guard Jourdan Roberson (Brooklyn, NY/University (Newark)) had his shot blocked just insider the right arc by Schneider and Russell grabbed the loose ball. With eight seconds to go, Smart missed a jumper, Albright grabbed the rebound for NJCU and the hosts called timeout with 5.2 left.
 
But on the ensuing inbounds from the far sideline, Albright, the Gothic Knight captain and an All-NJAC performer, turned the ball over under his own basket, Richardson came up with it for Camden, and NJCU fouled him before he could shoot. After a timeout by the Raptors, Russell inbounded to Smart, but he could not get a clean look at the basket as NJCU's defense forced a contested shot that sailed to the left of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
NJCU, which led by nine, 33-24, with 8:13 remaining in regulation, received nearly 40 percent of its scoring from Albright, who netted 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting to bring his career total to 950. He added seven rebounds in 36 minutes. Muhammad finished with seven points. Roberson (five points, five rebounds) and Marley (five points, four rebounds) were third on the scoring list. Senior point guard Jahmill Jenkins (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) contributed more assists individually (4) than Camden collected as a team (3).
 
Russell, who entered the game averaging 16.5 points and 9.4 boards, finished with his seventh double-double, chalking up 15 points (7-18 FG) and 10 rebounds (seven defensive) in 42 minutes. Smart tallied 10 points (4-11 FG) and Schneider had five. The rest of the team mustered just eight points.
 
"We knew we were going to struggle when teams play us zone," Brown admitted. "That's what they did tonight. They had been playing man-to-man all season. We just watched their film against Kean and they played man-to-man the entire game. Everyone in the league knows, 1-on-1, we have a lot of firepower, with Walik, with Khalid [Muhammad], who's not playing well but can still score against man-to-man defense. They [Camden] packed in a zone, dared us to shoot. I thought we panicked a little. It was disappointing because yesterday's practice was two hours working against zone. I had a feeling they were going to pack it in and play zone, and we just didn't execute. We don't have enough guys playing well enough together and consistent basketball to play well. We have guys who play well here and there but collectively we're not playing well. I can't put my finger on it but we're going to figure it out."
 
"I was talking to my coaches and maybe I gave this team too much credit. One of the worst things that could have happened to this team was to be picked to finish second in the NJAC [preseason poll]. We started off the season well at 5-0 and now we're really struggling. Obviously we still have a long way to go and at 8-6 and 4-4 we're still in a decent position in the league but we have a lot of work to do and if we continue to play the way we played tonight, there's no way we'd win another game."
 
NJCU will seek another conference win and a more notable offensive total when it visits The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ on Saturday, January 18 at 3 p.m.