New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University senior small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) became the 27^th man in the illustrious 81-year history of NJCU men's basketball to score 1,000 career points when he knocked down a free throw early in the second half. But the Gothic Knights struggled from the line and three-point range and failed to capitalize on several chances to knock off first-place Rutgers-Newark, falling 51-49 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup at The Golden Dome on January 29.
 
NJCU (10-8, 6-6 NJAC) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before moving in front in the second period after an 11-0 run. After Rutgers-Newark (14-5, 10-2 NJAC) regained the lead, NJCU had two chances to tie or win in the final 25 seconds, but turned the ball over with 4.0 seconds remaining before a potential winning three at the buzzer was long.
 
The win was the eighth consecutive for the Scarlet Raiders who are a half game in front of Richard Stockton in the standings entering the final month of the regular season.
 
In the 75^th meeting between the schools in a series NJCU has dominated historically, the Knights had a 15-3 differential in second chance scoring, based on a 14-6 margin in offensive rebounding, but couldn't find a way to prevail.
 
Albright, who missed all of the 2012-13 season with a broken jaw, cemented his legacy in NJCU basketball history by becoming the first Gothic Knight since former All-American Dana John in 2008 to join the 1,000-point club. Albright entered the day needing eight points to reach the milestone and scored seven in the first half before finishing with game highs of 18 points (6-11 FG) and nine rebounds in 35 minutes. He scored NJCU's final seven points in the closing five minutes and had 11 in the second half.
 
He could have easily scored much more, but shot just 6-of-15 from the foul line—the only black mark on an otherwise memorable evening—and the missed free throws proved critical in a two-point loss. The rest of the team went to the line just eight times, making 5-of-8.
 
NJCU shot 4-of-22 from three-point range in the loss (.182)—1-for-12 in the second half (.083) and struggled to find other scoring sources.
 
Junior point guard JOURDAN ROBERSON (Brooklyn, NY/University (Newark)) delivered seven of NJCU's nine assists, adding five points. Sophomore KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) scored seven with six rebounds and three steals but shot 3-of-11. Junior JAMALL MCDANIEL (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) also scored seven, shooting 3-of-8.
 
Two-time NJAC Player of the Week selection John Snow led the Raiders with 17 points (6-13 FG, 2-5 3FG, 3-4 FT), seven rebounds and four assists and one-time NJAC Player of the Week Christian Garcia contributed 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, adding five board. Chris Foreman had nine off the bench, including 2-of-5 three-point tries and all three foul shots. Doze Ikwuegbu finished with seven points, hitting 2-of-3 from deep.
 
Trailing by seven at the half (34-27), Albright stepped to the line with 18:29 remaining and sank the front end of two foul shots for his 1,000^th career point before hitting the second. That was the start of an 11-0 run. Albright would miss two more foul shots but got the offensive rebound and putback to make it a three-point game. McDaniel hit a jumper and then nailed a three to give NJCU its first lead of the night (36-34).
 
A layup by junior center EDDIE BROWN (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side) capped the run and gave the Knights their largest lead of the game, 38-34 and sophomore forward FARAJI JAMES (Irvington, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) scored inside at the 14:15 mark for a 40-37 advantage.
 
But as has been routine in a number of NJCU losses this season, the Knights went cold from the field. This time it was a span of almost nine minutes (8:53) until a McDaniel jumper off the window at the 5:22 mark made it 47-42, ending a 10-0 Raiders run during which NJCU committed five turnovers and missed seven consecutive shots.
 
A three-point play by Garcia, who sat out much of the second half with foul trouble, started the run before a straight-away three by Snow gave R-N back the lead for good. Snow and Garcia, who split the 10 points during the Raiders spurt, added buckets at the 8:00 and 6:25 marks to push the lead to 47-40.
 
NJCU did not quit, crashing the boards on several misses. With 4:07 left, Albright had a tip-in on a fourth chance opportunity before Ikwuegbu scored the next four, including a dagger three from the left wing with 2:10 to play to make it a 51-44 game. With 1:44 to play, Albright scored a tough layup on the left side of the lane off a Muhammad bounce pass and converted a foul shot for a three-point play and 51-47 deficit. After a jumper in the lane by Snow spun out, Albright slashed his way to the rim to make it a two-point game, 51-49 with 56.9 seconds left.
 
After a Raiders timeout, James blocked the shot of Ikwuegbu who drove the lane with the shot clock winding down as NJCU's nationally 18^th ranked scoring defense held with 25.2 seconds left. With the ball and a chance to tie or pull ahead, Roberson's inlet pass to Albright on the left side of the lane was knocked away by Garcia who stepped in front of the dish. Garcia was quickly fouled with 4.0 seconds to play and went to the line in a 1-and-1 opportunity but missed. NJCU grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the floor but senior guard JAHMILL JENKINS (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth)'s desperation straight away three at the buzzer caromed high off the back iron.
 
NJCU did outscore R-N in the second half, 22-17 as the Raiders' netted only half of the points it did in the opening 20 minutes. R-N jumped out to an 8-2 run in the first half and controlled most of the period, which included an 11-point, 34-23 lead with 2:27 to go in the half when Foreman knocked down three foul shots.
 
NJCU will host Kean University on Saturday, February 1 at 4 p.m. in the next NJAC game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

NJCU MEN'S BASKETBALL 1000-POINT CLUB
Thru 1/29/2014
RANK	PLAYER	YEARS	POINTS
1.	Brett Wyatt	1975-79	2292
2.	Del Harrison	1986-90	2011
3.	Johnny Mayers	1983-87	1912
4.	Steve Wilder	1982-86	1706
5.	Mark Washington	2002-06	1600
6.	Eric Moore	1976-80	1587
7.	Andy Kemp	1976-80	1513
8.	Samar Battle	2000-04	1507
9.	Fred Douglas	1967-70	1498
10.	Abdul Madison	1993-97	1457
11.	Charles Brown *	1962-65	1324
12.	Darren Watkins	1988-92	1318
13.	Jeff Harrington	1997-01	1302
14.	Dana John *	2005-08	1281
15.	Steve Schindler *	1970-73	1254
16.	John Celentano *	1971-74	1230
17.	Bob Johnson	1968-71	1178
18.	Omar Cooper *	1994-96, 99-00	1150
19.	Ed Petersen	1962-66	1148
20.	Danel Allen *	1995-98	1091
21.	Dwayne West	1982-86	1075
22.	George Thomas	1999-03	1069
23.	Don Brandes	1955-59	1047
24.	Ben O'Neill	1961-65	1024
25.	WALIK ALBRIGHT	2009-12, 13-14	1010
26.	Stan Chapman	1977-81	1009
27.	Dave Martin	1977-81	1004
* denotes three-year career. All others are four-year players.