New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights feature, JAMALL MCDANIEL
GOTHICVISION: Post-game interview with WALIK ALBRIGHT

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University needed a win in the worst way after four straight disappointing conference losses and on February 10, the Gothic Knights got what they sought. NJCU took control of the game midway through the first half with a 13-0 run, led by 11 at halftime and pulled away in the second half behind the sixth career 20-point scoring effort from senior small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter), as NJCU cruised past Valley Forge Christian College, 73-57, in non-conference men's basketball at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
NJCU (11-11) beat an athletic Valley Forge club (12-9) to return to the .500 mark on the season, thanks largely to a dominating effort on the glass. The Knights used their size and strength advantage to chalk up a 22-1 differential in offensive rebounding to amass a staggering 29-0 margin in second chance scoring in a contest where NJCU out-boarded the Patriots, 48-21.
 
NJCU outrebounded VFCC, 29-11 in the first half alone, including a substantial 13-0 cushion on the offensive glass. That directly led to a 13-0 differential in second chance points in the opening half.
 
Meanwhile, NJCU outscored VFCC in the paint in the first half, 22-6, and 38-20 overall and held a 26-6 differential in bench scoring. NJCU also turned 17 VFCC turnovers into a 25-14 edge in points off giveaways.
 
"It was a must win and we knew it coming in but they're all must wins at this point," noted seventh-year head coach Marc Brown, with NJCU needing to win three of its final four games to be .500 or better overall and eligible for post-season play. "The guys came out ready to play today against a team that's a non-conference team but still a great win for our overall record. They're [Valley Forge] a dangerous team. They have some guys who can score and they play hard. We still didn't shoot well from the field or the free throw line but we have to keep working."
 
It was Albright's fifth 20-point scoring performance of the season that was individually notable. In moving into 21^st place in program history in scoring, he was one point shy of equaling his career high and reached the 20-point threshold in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting (2-3 3-point FG) and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.
 
Albright could have reached a career high but left the game with 2:50 remaining with the outcome well in hand. He is now 15 of his last 19 from the line over a three-game span after struggling mightily from the stripe at the end of January.
 
"He's taking his time and that's really the key," Brown said about Albright's improved foul shooting. "It's just having confidence going to the line. I keep telling these guys most of this game is confidence. You have to have the talent too but when you're confident you can become a different person and a different player on the court. I think going into the end of the year now, Walik's a senior and he's realizing his career is coming to an end and he doesn't want it to end early. I told him next Wednesday could be your last college game so let's not let that happen."
 
"Basically, I've just been taking my time," Albright confirmed about the difference in his free throw shooting. "When I get to the line I get 10 seconds. I wasn't rushing—I was sticking with a steady routine and it's coming through for me."
 
Sophomore shooting guard KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) delivered 11 points (4-10 FG) and four assists in 21 minutes and junior shooting guard JAMALL MCDANIEL (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) chipped in 10 points (5-12 FG), six rebounds and four assists.
 
Junior point guard JOURDAN ROBERSON (Brooklyn, NY/University (Newark)) added seven rebounds, six points and three assists. Freshman small forward CHINWE WOSU (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) had a big first half, finishing with six offensive rebounds and five points.
 
VFCC was led by a superb shooting effort by junior guard Jean LeBlanc (Coatesville, PA) who shot lights out from three-point distance, knocking down 6-of-7 from the floor to finish with 18 points and three steals. Junior guard Kevin Mack (Philadelphia, PA) tallied 12 points (7-10 FT, 2-11 FG), five assists and three steals.
 
The Patriots also received nine points apiece from senior guard Lance Harris (Catonsville, MD) and freshman guard Tony Hazzard (Lincoln, DE). Harris added four assists.
 
VFCC shot 53.8 percent from three-point range, connecting on 7-of-13 attempts and was successful at the line (16-22, .727). But the Patriots struggled inside the arc, converting on just 10-of-27 attempts. NJCU took a team season-high 30 threes in the game, making eight.
 
Both teams started slowly in the first half. Before scoring its 10^th point, NJCU was 1-of-8 from the field but held Valley Forge to 2-of-7 during that span to remain close, trailing just 11-6 midway through the period.
 
Still trailing by five (15-10), NJCU began a decisive push—using its pressure defense to generate a 13-0 run over a span of 2:54 to seize a 23-15 advantage. After two made Albright free throws, a Muhammad steal led to a McDaniel fast break bucket and a triple by Albright from the left wing with 7:18 to play put the Knights on top for good, 17-15.
 
A steal by Albright led to a Muhammad layup (6:46). Later, after NJCU turned the ball over, Albright had a LeBron-esque block of Mack, sandwiching a shot against the glass, that led to a fast break by junior center EDDIE BROWN (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side) before an offensive rebound and putback by Wosu of a missed free throw capped the run at 13-0.
 
Moments later, Brown grabbed a loose ball under his basket off a VFCC steal attempt for an easy layup (25-18) and another block, this time by Wosu, set up McDaniel down court for a fast break jumper off the window for a 27-18 advantage, pushing the spurt to 17-3. An offensive carom and layup by Wosu on a third-chance opportunity and a triple by Albright (1:22) extended the lead to a dozen (33-21) and the Knights held a 35-24 margin at the break.
 
NJCU bounced back from early struggles in the period to shoot .400 from the field (14-35) and 12-of-21 from two-point range. Albright was perfect in the first half, scoring 10 points—knocking down both threes he attempted and 4-for-4 from the line with a pair of steals in 18 minutes. The rest of the club shot 0-for-12 from three-point distance in the period. 
 
Muhammad added eight points and three assists in 15 first half minutes while Wosu had five points and five offensive rebounds. LeBlanc (nine points) and Mack (eight points) accounted for 17 of the Patriots' 24 first half points. 
 
The Patriots attempted a comeback and scored the first eight points of the second half. A triple by LeBlanc and a Harris bucket off a turnover made it a 35-32 contest just 2:03 into the second half.
 
Roberson broke out of a 0-for 8 shooting slump with a three from the left wing (38-32) but immediately after he picked up his fourth foul (17:44), yet did not foul out. Mack made it a four-point game (38-34) with a fast-break finger roll.
 
But NJCU quickly regained firm control, scoring the next eight points—five from Albright. A three by junior guard JUSTIN HARTE (Irvington, NJ/Irvington), and a three-point play by Albright for his 15^th point, pushed the Knight margin back to 12 (46-34) with 14:07 to play. The Knights were unchallenged from there, pushing the advantage to 20 with 4:05 left and as many as 22 points on a Roberson three with 1:46 to play.
 
NJCU, locked in a four-way logjam for the final two seeds in the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament with Montclair State University, Ramapo College  and Rowan University  will face Montclair on the road on Wednesday, February 12 at 8 p.m. NJCU won the first meeting on January 8 in Jersey City, 76-70.
 
"We have to go out on the court and play every game like it's our last," said Albright. "We have to concentrate, work hard, and make free throws and put it together. Coach gives us a perfect game plan—we just have to come out here and put it together."  

NOTES:

Second meeting. NJCU leads all-time series, 2-0. Last meeting: January 2, 2013 in Bethlehem, PA (neutral court); NJCU won, 51-46. Valley Forge, in its second year of NCAA Division III provisional membership, falls to 3-5 against Division III opponents this season. The win was career victory No. 99 for head coach Marc Brown. He will try to join his father, Charlie Brown (483 wins) as a rare father/son 100-win combo. NJCU is 3-3 when Albright scores 20+ in a game. His 20-point efforts: January 25, 2012 at Rutgers-Newark (20 points) December 1, 2013 vs. Albertus Magnus (21 points) November 23, 2013 at Ramapo (21 points) January 25, 2014 vs. Rowan (20 points) February 8, 2014 vs. William Paterson (21 points) February 10, 2014 vs. Valley Forge Christian (20 points) WALIK ALBRIGHT upped his career scoring total to 1078 points. He is now 21st on the 1,000-point charts, passing 2013 Hall-of-Fame inductee George Thomas (1,069 points, 1999-03) and Hall-of-Famer Dwayne West (1982-86), brother of NBA All-Star David West with 1,075 points, on the all-time list. Next on the list in 20th place is former All-American Danel Allen (1995-98) who scored 1,091 points in three seasons. WALIK ALBRIGHT posted his 58th career double-digit scoring effort and sixth in a row. He was playing his 102nd game and making his 94th start. KHALID MUHAMMAD has 668 career points. He scored in double figures for the 37th time in 50 career games. JAMALL MCDANIEL reached double figures for the fourth time in nine games since joining the team on January 13. The game was a makeup of a February 3 snowout.

NJCU MEN'S BASKETBALL 1000-POINT CLUB
Thru 2/10/2014
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	1708
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	1476
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.	WALIK ALBRIGHT	2009-12, 13-14	1078
22.	Dwayne West	1982-86	1075
23.	George Thomas	1999-03	1069
24.	Don Brandes	1955-59	1047
25.	Ben O'Neill	1961-65	1024
26.	Stan Chapman	1977-81	1009
27.	Dave Martin	1977-81	1004
* denotes three-year career. All others are four-year players.