WAYNE, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University fought back from a seven-point deficit with 2:34 to go and closed within one when freshman point guard Shaquan Worthy (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) knocked down a long three-point shot with under 30 seconds left. But a game-tying three-point try in the final seconds was short and second-seeded William Paterson survived a valiant effort by the sixth-seeded Gothic Knights, 63-61, in the 2015 New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals on February 24.
 
The loss ends NJCU's season at 13-14 and with it the careers of its seven-man senior class. William Paterson (20-6) snaps a three-game losing streak and will travel to top-seeded and No. 23 ranked Stockton University on Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. with the league title and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line. Stockton rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to oust fourth-seeded Rutgers University-Newark, 70-54.
 
After leading by seven early in the first half after a hot start, NJCU trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and the Pioneers used sizzling shooting to keep the Gothic Knights at arm's length for much of the period. WPU shot 62.5 percent in the period on 10-of-16 and 66.7 percent from three-point distance (4-6).
 

But NJCU, which has been resilient all season, battling back from a disappointing 3-10 start to win 10-of-13 games down the stretch, including an NJAC Tournament Quarterfinal game on February 21 at The College of New Jersey (74-60), would not quit.
 
Down 10 with 5:07 left after a pair of foul shots by senior two-time All-NJAC guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee) and nine with 4:12 left after a jumper by First-Team All-NJAC forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, NY), the Knights were able to draw within five with 3:07 to go after a jumper by junior redshirt shooting guard David Cole (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) and two foul shots by Worthy. A long jumper by Bridgeman made it a 57-50 contest with 2:34 to go.
 
NJCU wouldn't go away. With 2:00 left, NJCU senior All-NJAC small forward Neville Joseph (Newark, NJ/West Side) rebounded his own miss of a backend free throw and senior center Eddie Brown (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side)'s finger roll layup cut the deficit to four. With 1:08 remaining, Brown hit the floor for a loose ball offensive rebound, called timeout, and four seconds later, Joseph hit a jumper to make it a 58-55 game.
 Burgos turned over the inbounds play and NJCU, playing in front of a crowd of 945—the largest crowd it has played in front of in seven years—including two busloads of Gothic Knight fans, drew within two (58-56) when junior shooting guard Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) hit a foul shot with 46.3 seconds left before NJCU was whistled for a lane violation. WP was forced to burn its final timeout when NJCU's press foiled its inbounds pass.
 
The Pioneers would turn it over again as Joseph picked off junior forward James McLane, but his pass inside to try to tie the game was batted away by Bridgeman. With 34 seconds left Burgos hit two foul shots to push the lead to four (60-56).
 
That led to playoff drama. Worthy, who entered the game just 2-for-10 from three-point range on the season, dribbled upcourt and with 27 seconds left, nailed a 24-foot- lean-in three from the left of the top of the arc to trim the WP lead to one (60-59). NJCU had to foul Burgos, who sank both shots with 15.6 left for a three-point lead (62-59) and the Knights called timeout with 13.0 seconds left to discuss a potential game-tying shot.
 
But the Knights could not find an uncontested shot. Joseph was forced to fire up a three from the left arc with three seconds left that was short, although Brown was able to deposit the offensive rebound for a 62-61 deficit with 0.6 seconds to go. But on the ensuing play Brown was called for an intentional foul, Bridgeman made one foul shot and the Pioneers held on.
 
Burgos led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting including 5-of-7 three-point accuracy and 6-of-6 foul prowess in a full 40 minutes. Bridgeman notched 16 points, missing only one shot (6-7). NJAC Defensive Player of the Year and junior guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) had eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
Joseph narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 19 points (7-19 FG), including 3-of-8 three-point shooting and nine rebounds (six defensive), but he was 2-of-7 from the line. Muhammad scored 13 points (4-13 FG, 4-5 FT) to finish his third season with 1048 career points (24th in school history). Worthy had nine points, making both shots he took and 4-of-5 free throws. Cole added eight points (2-6 3FG), three assists and three steals.
 

In the first half, NJCU got out to a quick start, knocking down the first three three-pointers it attempted as Cole, Muhammad and Joseph staked NJCU to a 9-3 lead which grew to seven points (11-4) with 14:51 to go. But NJCU would shoot just 1-of-11 from three-point range the rest of the half.
 
With NJCU still leading 13-9 at 11:19, the Pioneers scored the next seven points to grab the lead (16-13) and extended the outburst to 16-3 over a span of 8:26, building a 25-16 advantage when Burgos connected from three with 3:04 to go in the half. WP took a nine-point, 28-19 margin into the break.
 
NJCU scored the first seven points of the second half, drawing within two (28-26) before the Pioneers countered with an 8-0 run to grab its first double-digit lead (36-26) on a dunk by Bridgeman. A triple by Burgos gave the hosts their largest lead of the game (42-31) with 13:34 on the board.
 
The Pioneers shot 54.1 percent overall (20-37) and while each team hit seven threes in the game, WP was 7-of-12 for 58.3 percent. In what was at times a sloppy game, the clubs combined for 39 turnovers. NJCU had a 20-9 offensive rebounding margin.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Marc Brown (eighth season)
 
Assessing the final record: "If you would have told me after going undefeated in the [2014] summer league that we'd finish the year a game under .500, I would have told you 'no way'. We just didn't have enough of our main guys step up in big games and today was another example. If you look at William Paterson, Burgos shot great from the field; Bridgeman missed one shot from the field. Our main guys don't step up in big games and that was our problem the whole season. At the end of the season we were too dependent on Neville to make plays."
 
On the difference in the game: "We had defensive lapses where we lacked concentration. At the end of the game we drew up a play two times in the huddle and they didn't run what we drew up. It's a lack of discipline, both offensively and defensively, on this team this year. We were down one, had an opportunity to foul Mensah [with 15.6 seconds left], and we get the ball go back to Burgos. This is stuff we shouldn't have to tell you; it should be automatic. Some guys just don't understand the game."
 
On the crowd: "The result was even more disappointing because the fans did an unbelievable job and the fan support was great. Our crowd was louder and more rambunctious than their crowd in their gym. It felt like a lot of times we were the home team. That was great. And we were outnumbered, maybe 2-to-1. The atmosphere for a Division III game was awesome tonight even though we came out on the short end of the stick."
 
OF NOTE:

• 145th meeting known meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 76-69 but the Pioneers won all three games in 2015.
• The crowd of 945 was the largest NJCU has played in front of in a non-exhibition game since January 4, 2008 when it played in front of a crowd of 973 at Christopher Newport University.
• NJCU dropped to 20-22 all-time in the NJAC Tournament and 4-12 in NJAC road games.
• NJCU fell to 2-8 all-time against the Pioneers in the NJAC Tournament and 0-4 in Wayne.
• NJCU was appearing in the NJAC Tournament for the third straight season and 28th time since 1977-78.
• Neville Joseph scored in double figures for the 22nd time in 25 games in his only season at NJCU.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1048 career points. Muhammad reached double figures in scoring for the 60th time in 82 career games and 17th time this season.
• Muhammad passed Hall-of-Famer Don Brandes (1955-59) who scored 1,047 points, for 24th place in program history.
• NJCU was without starting senior shooting guard Jamall McDaniel (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) for the second straight game.