JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In an intense battle for undisputed first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference between New Jersey City University and Rutgers University-Newark, Gothic Knight junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) had back-to-back blocks to thwart the Scarlet Raiders in the final seconds as NJCU prevailed, 63-59, on January 20. With the home court win at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court), NJCU reclaimed sole possession of first place in the NJAC and swept a season series from Rutgers-Newark for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
 
The marquee win for the Gothic Knights (10-6, 8-2) propels NJCU to a full-game lead over second place Rutgers-Newark (12-5, 7-3 NJAC), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. It also gave NJCU, which had dropped four of its last six games after a 7-2 and 6-0 NJAC open to the season, a critical head-to-head tiebreaker with the Raiders, via the season sweep.
 
Harris, who did not start a game for the first time as a Gothic Knight, was lights out, particularly in the second half. Harris shot 7-of-9 from the field including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range and hit both foul shots he took in 22 total minutes.
 
Junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) added 14 (5-13 FG; 2-6 3FG) and senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter), the NJAC's leader in rebounding and field goal percentage, fought through foul trouble for a game-high 12 boards with seven points. Muhammad chipped in nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
 
Defensively, NJCU held Rutgers-Newark to an opponent season-low 59 points—the first time the Knights have kept an opponent under 60 points this year.
 
Most notable was the work against RUN senior guard John Snow (Newark, NJ/Montclair Kimberley). Snow, the reigning NJAC Player of the Week, had scored 42 points in his last outing—the most by any player in the NJAC since January, 2007—but the Knights shut him down. Snow shot 4-of-15 overall and 0-for-6 from three-point range. He collected most of his team-high 17 points from the line (9-of-11), adding six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks against five turnovers in a full 40 minutes.

The Raiders, which had worked themselves back into a tie with NJCU atop the league standings coming in, had four players in double figures to account for 51 of its 59 points.
 
Senior forward Jordan McDaniel (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had 13 points (5-14 FG) and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Tyler Ofray (Newark, NJ/Church Farm School) added 11 points (3-8 FG). Senior forward David Azoroh (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) finished with 10 points (4-7).
 
In a frantic, fast-paced final five minutes, NJCU trailed 54-50. Robinson was fouled in transition with 4:35 remaining, hit both from the line and Wosu forced a turnover on the next RUN possession. Wosu drew two defenders, which allowed him to kick out a pass to Harris, who drilled a three from the far right sideline to put NJCU back in front, 55-54 with 4:07 to go.
 
In a game with 11 lead changes, Azoroh hit a turnaround layup in the lane to put RUN back in front, 56-55 (3:27) before Robinson countered with a fall-away jumper from the left baseline with 3:00 left to regain the lead, 57-56. Ofray responded with a triple from the right arc with 2:38 to play for a 59-57 guest lead.
 

NJCU took over the game from there. When Harris missed a floater—one of just two misses all game—Muhammad was there for the tip-in (2:06) and eight seconds later, Muhammad forced Snow into a turnover on the far sideline. After a timeout, Wosu was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound with 1:30 left, missed both foul shots, and Muhammad again came up big, grabbing another offensive carom while drawing a foul. He hit his second foul shot to break the deadlock, 60-59.
 
When Snow missed a wide-open three in front of own bench with 1:03 left, Robinson grabbed the rebound. With 34.3 seconds to go and the shot clock nearly expired, Robinson powered to the rim for two points and a 62-59 edge.
 
That set up the defensive culmination for NJCU. Ofray missed a game-tying three for the Raiders. Snow got the rebound underneath but his layup was blocked by Muhammad with 19 seconds left. Ofray grabbed the carom but the Raiders' third opportunity was yet again swatted away by Muhammad. Wosu grabbed the loose ball, was fouled and hit a foul shot to make it a two possession game before the Raiders missed a pair of late threes.
 
Both teams picked up the shooting percentages in the second half after an ugly first 20 minutes. In a physical first half battle that saw a combined 33 fouls whistled (17 NJCU, 16 RUN), NJCU shot 15-of-23 from the line (.652) while RUN was just 11-of-20 (.550). Neither team shot well from the field. Rutgers shot just 6-of-27 overall in the opening 20 minutes (22.2 percent) and missed all six threes it attempted. The Gothic Knights didn't fare much better at 7-of-26 (.269) but the two threes it did convert allowed it to gain the lead.

Behind Harris, NJCU's bench outscored the RUN reserves, 31-5. NJCU also swatted a season-high 10 blocks.

Other Key Moments:

• Rutgers-Newark jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before NJCU claimed the lead when Robinson (15:09) and freshman swingman James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) (14:43) knocked down a pair of threes to put NJCU in front, 13-12. An offensive rebound and putback by freshman center Jeremiah Boone-Alexandre (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) of a rare Robinson missed foul shot, a Robinson strong drive to the rim and a jumper by Harris on his only first-half make made it 20-14 before foul shots determined the remainder of the half.
• Wosu had seven rebounds and six points in the first half while Julius added seven points. John Snow scored eight in the first half but nearly all from the line (6-6) after the NJAC Player of the Week, who scored 42 in his last outing, shot 1-of-7 from the field. The rest of the team was a combined 5-of-14 from the stripe.
• Early in second half Robinson drilled a three after McDaniel hit three straight from the line (34-26). But RUN stormed back and tied it on a 17-foot Snow jumper (34-34).
• Wosu picked up his fourth foul with 14:20 to play in the first half, coming out with 10 rebounds and six points. Snow shot two foul shots, made both, and gave the Raiders the lead, 37-36, before Harris caught fire for the Knights.
• Harris slashed to the hoop to put NJCU back in front, 38-37. He hit two more from the line (40-37). Harris continued heating up, nailing a right arc three after a kick out pass from freshman center Yuri Brutus (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) for a 43-37 advantage. Harris scored seven straight for NJCU.
• The Raiders struck back with a 10-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into a four-point, 47-43 lead. McDaniel scored inside on a pretty bounce pass to make it 43-41. Ofray slashed to the rim to tie it at 43-43 with 10:47 left and completed a three-point play for a 44-43 RUN edge. Snow later hit another mid-range jumper for a 46-43 lead.
• Harris slashed thru the lane again for his 11th points to cut the lead to 47-45. RUN countered with a second chance basket (49-45) before Harris answered with a fast break layup scored again to make it 49-47….
• Snow grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in with 7:19 left for a 51-47 edge. Harris drilled a transition three from the right corner off a Julius bounce pass, cutting the deficit to 51-50 before a jumper by Ofray helped RUN regain a four-point lead (54-50) with 5:24 to go.

 

#KnightNotes:

• 79th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 62-17.
• The previous season low for opponent points was 62, also by Rutgers-Newark (November 24) and Kean (December 12).
• The last time NJCU held an opponent under 60 points was Montclair State on February 14, 2015.
• NJCU's 63 points are a season low; the previous low was 67 in a loss to nationally-ranked Franklin & Marshall on November 20.
• Ninth-year head coach Marc Brown won his 125th career game (125-104). He is now one win shy of equaling Hall-of-Fame coach Ollie Gelston, who won 126 games from 1959-67, and coached his father (Charlie Brown), for third place in school history.
• With nine points, Khalid Muhammad now has 1,127 career points and is 21st in school history. Next up on the 1,000-point list: Omar Cooper in 20th place with 1,150 points in three seasons (1994-96, 99-00).
• Jalen Harris scored in double figures for the 13th time in 16 games as a Gothic Knight.
• Ata Robinson reached double figures for the fourth time as an NJCU player and the second time against Rutgers-Newark.
• Chinwe Wosu registered his ninth double-digit rebounding effort of the season.

 
What's Next?:
Weather permitting, NJCU will host Kean University on Saturday, January 23 at 7 p.m. in NJAC action. It will be the 134th known meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 96-37 and won the first meeting of the season on December 12 in Union, NJ, 78-62. In that game, Chinwe Wosu scored 15 of his career-high 26 points in the first half. He shot a mind-boggling 11-of-14 from the field with 15 rebounds (eight offensive). James Julius netted a career-high 18 points. Follow live stats (http://sidearmstats.com/njcu/mbball/) or live video (https://www.youtube.com/user/NJCUGothicKnights/live).