PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | If three minutes can tell the story of an entire season, New Jersey City University's 71-70 come-from-behind win over University of Valley Forge on February 16 is a microcosm of the 2014-15 campaign. In a game of grand bookends, NJCU junior shooting guard Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) scored his 1,000th career point on the opening play of the game and senior center Eddie Brown (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side) converted a game-winning layup with four seconds left as the Gothic Knights rallied from a 70-65 deficit with 2:57 remaining to pull even at .500 on the season.

UPDATED 1,000-POINT CLUB
 
NJCU is now 12-12 and has now won nine times in its last 11 games after opening the season just 3-10 overall. The win snapped Valley Forge's six-game winning streak as the Patriots fell to 15-9 and for only the third time at home in 10 games.
 
Muhammad entered the day needing just two points to become the 28th member of NJCU's 1000-point club and 25 seconds into the game, the 2013 New Jersey Athletic Conference and D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year reached the coveted milestone in just his 79th career game on an unassisted driving layup.
 
And while the beginning of the game produced some program history, the final six minutes generated even more drama.
 NJCU took the lead with 5:21 to go in the first half, led 43-38 at the intermission, and remained in front for a majority of the second half. NJCU elevated its lead to nine three times, including 58-49 with 10:01 to go and maintained a six-point, 62-56 advantage when senior small forward Neville Joseph (Newark, NJ/West Side) converted a three-point play with 5:59 on the board.
 

But the Patriots would counter. Joseph Taylor hit a three with 5:34 left, a steal and fast break layup by Brandon Rembert made it a one-point game (5:11) before Taylor tied the game with a foul shot with 4:39 showing. Taylor extended the Valley Forge run to 9-0, knocking down a three with 4:04 left and the hosts led for the first time in the second half, 65-62.
 
Senior shooting guard Jamall McDaniel (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) answered with a three that forced the seventh tie of the game at 65-65 with 3:47 to go.
 
VF would continue its late outburst, pushing the run to 14-3 over a span of 3:02 as Jean LeBlanc scored on a layup with 3:39 to play but missed the subsequent foul shot and Taylor knocked down his third three pointer of the game—all during the late run—to put the Patriots up 70-65 with 2:57 to go.
 
NJCU missed its next two shots, forced a turnover and Muhammad missed another shot but gathered his own rebound and scored inside to make it 70-67 with 2:26 to go. VF missed two three-point tries at 1:51 and 1:23, sandwiched around an NJCU turnover and when the Knights missed a three with 53 seconds left, senior power forward Drew Marley (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) seized a critical offensive rebound and deposited a layup to make it a one-point game (70-69) with 48 seconds left. When Taylor missed a three for VF with 21 seconds to go, Muhammad grabbed the board, and NJCU called timeout with 12 seconds on the clock and head coach Marc Brown drew up a play.
 
With time winding down, NJCU ran its two-zone play, going high-low and Joseph, who was credited with the assist, made a great pass to the 6-foot-8 Eddie Brown for the layup on only his third shot of the game and a 71-70 edge. His fourth point with four seconds left proved decisive as Jerome Staley missed a potential winning three for Valley Forge with Muhammad seizing the rebound.
 
Statistically, NJCU junior red-shirt shooting guard David Cole (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, shooting 8-of-12 overall and a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range in 24 reserve minutes.
 
On the day he etched his name in permanent Gothic Knight basketball annals, Muhammad notched his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes. Ironically his only other career double-double came in NJCU's first-ever meeting with Valley Forge on January 2, 2013 (16 points, 11 rebounds). Joseph had 12 points and eight rebounds (six defensive) in 27 minutes. McDaniel contributed with eight points, knocking down both threes he took.
 
For the Patriots, Taylor and LeBlanc each scored 18 points. Taylor was 5-of-11 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-10 at the line in 23 minutes while LeBlanc finished 7-of-11 shooting in 25 minutes. Kevin Mack collected 15 points (5-13 FG, 5-8 FT), four assists and four steals in 38 minutes.
 
In a see-saw first half, neither side led by more than four points until senior point guard Justin Harte (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) sank a three for a seven-point lead (39-32) with 4:06 to go in the period. A steal and fast break by Cole made it a nine-point lead (43-34) with 1:59 to play in the half.
 
NJCU shot 58.1 percent in the first half (18-31) only to see its second half shooting dwindle to 32.1 percent (9-28) while committing 24 turnovers in the game.
 
But NJCU's three-point shooting was blistering as the club buried 7-of-10 from long distance (.700). The Knights were equally reliable at the line, sinking 10-of-13 (.769) while VF missed a dozen foul shots (17-29, .586) which proved costly in a close game.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Marc Brown (eighth season)
 
On the comeback: "Once again the guys didn't quit. Valley Forge played hard. I give them credit."
 
On what it means to be 12-12 with the strongest strength of schedule in the region after opening the year 3-10: "It means we don't quit. The guys kept practicing hard. The team stayed together and let us coach them. I am hard on my guys and expect a lot from them. We need to win Wednesday to finish [the regular season] above .500."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 3-0. First-ever meeting at Valley Forge.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1009 career points. Muhammad reached double figures in scoring for the 57th time in 79 career games and 15th time this season.
• Muhammad passed Dave Martin (1977-81, 1004 points) and equaled Stan Chapman (1977-81, 1009 points) for 26th in school history in scoring.
• Muhammad's 11 rebounds equaled a career-high set against Valley Forge on January 2, 2013; it was his second career effort of double-digit rebounds.
• Neville Joseph scored in double figures for the 19th time in 22 games in his only season at NJCU.
• David Cole scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and had his 10th career game of 10+ points.
• Head coach Marc Brown is now one win shy (114) of matching Hall-of-Fame coach Paul Weinstein (115, 1976-82) for fourth place on NJCU's career coaching wins chart.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Wednesday, February 18, NJCU will look to lock up the No. 5 seed in the NJAC Tournament when it concludes the regular season with a home New Jersey Athletic Conference game against Rutgers University-Camden (13-11, 7-10 NJAC) at 8 p.m. at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. NJCU won the first meeting on January 14 in Camden, 66-58. Joseph scored 23 in the first meeting while McDaniel knocked down four threes on the way to 15 points.
 
Prior to the game, NJCU will honor its extensive seven-man senior class: Eddie Brown, Mohamed Elnaggar (Bayonne, NJ/Marist), Justin Harte, Neville Joseph, Drew Marley, Jamall McDaniel and senior point guard Jourdan Roberson (Brooklyn, NY/University (Newark)).
 
Series: It will be the 62nd meeting. NJCU has won 19 consecutive meetings, 47 of the last 48 and leads the all-time series, 57-4. Camden's last win came in double overtime on February 9, 2002 in Camden, 103-99.