JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | York College (NY) hit a game-tying three with 3:36 to play before junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) answered 12 seconds later, drilling a go-ahead triple from the right side for three of his 23 points and New Jersey City University again iced a game from the line as NJCU overcame a challenge from the Cardinals, 74-70, on November 30. Senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) produced another massive double-double for the Gothic Knights who were playing their 2015-16 home opener at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
NJCU (3-2) won its third consecutive game, bouncing back from a 20-10 first half deficit that saw York (2-5) use a 20-3 outburst to counter the Knights scoring the first seven points of the game.
 
Wosu had his second double-double of the season and his career, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 14 rebounds—seven offensive and seven defensive grabs. He had three blocks, two assists and two steals in 32 minutes. He scored 12 in the first half and had one more rebound than his previous career high.

 
Harris netted his second 20-point performance in an NJCU uniform as the transfer tallied 16 of his 23 in the second half. He knocked down three three-pointers, was 6-of-7 from the line and chipped in four steals and three assists.
 
Harris , freshman small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) and junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) each hit two foul shots with 1:42, 43.1 seconds and 26.4 seconds left to seal it as NJCU hit 6-of-6 from the stripe in the final two minutes to push the margin to two possessions. NJCU was 24-of-35 from the line in the win. Julius and Robinson each scored nine points and had seven rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

 
York 6-foot-7 senior forward Rashaan Bailey had 15 points (6-9 FG), seven rebounds, five rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes. Junior guard Ryan St. John was 6-of-12 from the field and hit four threes (4-9), finishing with 16 points in 20 minutes. Senior forward Anthony Mason had 10 points (3-7 FG) in 15 minutes before fouling out.
 
For the fifth consecutive game, NJCU forced an opponent into 20 or more turnovers as the Cardinals coughed it up 25 times. The Knights had a 21-12 margin in points off turnovers in a game where York outshot NJCU, 48.3 percent (28-58) to 33.3 percent (23-69).
 
NJCU was 9-of-40 from the field in the first half (.225) and York shot 43.8 percent in the first period and 53.8 percent in the second.
 
NJCU led 7-0 before York finally got on the board with 14:29 to play in the opening half. But the Cardinals got hot behind St. John who scored eight straight points including back-to-back threes and his steal and assist led to a fast-break basket by Taron Pascal for a 20-10 lead midway through the opening period (9:31).
 
Julius energized the Knights, scoring the next seven points—two coast-to-coast layups and a triple from the corner, as NJCU drew within 22-17. NJCU tied it at 28-28 with 2:50 left in the half when Harris swiped a ball near midcourt and fed a streaking Wosu for an easy fast break layup. York went to the break with a slim 35-32 margin.
 
The Cardinals pushed the deficit to seven (47-40) early in the second half but NJCU kept it close as Harris buried a three (15:03) and turned a steal into two points (14:23). NJCU moved ahead 52-51 with 12:09 to go when Robinson made a driving layup on the right baseline. The clubs would trade three ties at 54-54 (10:11), 56-56 (7:25) and 58-58 (6:39) before four foul shots—the latter two by Robinson—allowed NJCU a three-point lead (64-61). St. John's three with 3:36 from the left side tied it for an eighth time (64-64) before Harris answered 12 seconds later.
 
NJCU led by two, 68-66, with 2:22 to play and York had a chance to tie it but junior center Larry Moore missed both free throws and Wosu cleaned the glass for a 14th time. Harris' foul shots with 1:42 to go made it a two-possession game (70-66) and the Cardinals couldn't draw closer than four in the final 90 seconds.
 
Quotable Knights:
 
Head Coach Marc Brown, 9th season, on the win: "We got lucky tonight. That's the bottom line. We have to play better against William Paterson or they'll blow us right off the court. We didn't play well, we didn't come focused and we didn't come with energy. I think guys were reading too much of the clippings; we were coming off two wins in a row and guys were comfortable. This team [York] traveled three hours, jumped off the bus, had 15 minutes to warm up; we went out to a 7-0 lead, let them get back and let them get rhythm and just played poorly. We missed a lot of easy shots. We had unbelievable turnovers and unforced errors. But the bottom line is we won and that's the key."
 
Brown on the play of Chinwe Wosu: "Chinwe is our MVP. If we didn't have Chinwe right now we probably wouldn't have won a game. I was disappointed in the effort of some of the other guys coming off the bench. I think some of our young guys have no idea how hard you have to play at this level. They're too casual. Obviously we have a lot of injuries and a lot of issues with some guys so we are going to go with who we have and hopefully we'll play a little better Wednesday."
 
Brown on the scoring of Jalen Harris: "He missed some wide open shots early but obviously when he's open like that we want him to keep shooting and he did that and he stayed confident. He's a shooter and a scorer. He knows he has to score for us to be successful. I'm enjoying coaching him. He's receptive to coaching. A couple other guys are not as receptive and we're going to get to the bottom of that."
 
#KnightNotes:

• NJCU leads all-time series, 7-2, and has won the last three meetings. First meeting since December 5, 2011.
• 1,000-point scorer Khalid Muhammad (1,060 career points) did not play with an injury.
• Ata Robinson, who entered the game 25-of-26 from the line this season, had a streak of 17 consecutive free throws snapped when he missed on his first attempt with 7:48 left in the game.
• Chinwe Wosu, who had never scored in double figures in his first season with NJCU in 2013-14, scored in double figures for the fifth straight outing. His previous rebounding high was 13 against #19 Franklin & Marshall on November 20.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU (1-0 NJAC) plays its first New Jersey Athletic Conference home game of the season on Wednesday, December 2 at 8 p.m. when it hosts rival William Paterson University in Jersey City. It will be the 146th known meeting in a series that NJCU leads, 76-69. But the Pioneers won all three games in 2015, including a heart-breaking 63-61 result in the last meeting in the 2015 NJAC semifinals in Wayne on February 24, 2015. The Pioneers are 4-2 (0-1 NJAC, forfeit loss) and received 60 points in the November 30 D3hoops.com Top 25 poll—equivalent to a No. 29 national listing. Follow live stats (http://sidearmstats.com/njcu/mbball/) or live video (https://www.youtube.com/user/NJCUGothicKnights/live).