JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | With a New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament berth wrapped up before the month began, the New Jersey City University men's basketball team began setting its sights on its next goal during the month of February—capturing a regular season championship and the No. 1 seed. NJCU scored a season-high 52 points in the first half and led by 29 at the break en route to a 27-point blowout of Kean University, 79-52, on February 1 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
Up four (16-12) just 6:32 into the game, NJCU used a 20-4 run to build a substantial lead midway through the first half and was never challenged. The Knights led 52-23 at halftime and by as many as 36 points in the second half before taking their foot off the accelerator.
 
NJCU improved to 13-6 and 11-2 in the NJAC with its fourth straight win. It sweeps its fourth NJAC opponent so far this season—Rutgers-Newark, William Paterson, Rowan and Kean—with five NJAC games remaining. The Knights are a game ahead of Stockton and two in front of Rutgers-Newark and Ramapo with a 4-0 record against those three clubs. Kean dropped to 3-16 (3-10 NJAC).
 
What made the lopsided score even more notable was NJCU was without it leading scorer (16.7 points), junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)), who did not play for the Gothic Knights for the first time this year.
 
On a day where the game was decided early, the Gothic Knight reserves saw ample playing time with 12 players seeing double digit minutes. NJCU bench outscored the Kean reserves, 50-12. NJCU hit 10 three-pointers, blocked 12 shots and had an assist on 20 of 25 made baskets. NJCU also out-rebounded the Cougars, 60-37, including a dominant 23-6 on the offensive glass. The hosts scored 22 second chance points (22-4).
 
Freshman center Yuri Brutus (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 13 minutes of action. He added eight rebounds. Senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) vaulted over two players on the all-time scoring list to move into 18th place in school history. He scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half and finished with 13 points (6-6 FT), six rebounds (five offensive), four blocks and two steals in 18 minutes.
 
Junior guard Andrew Tomlin (Newark, NJ/Central), in his sixth game since joining the team on January 12, chipped in a career-high 14 points (3 3-pointers) with three assists in a team-high 26 minutes. Freshman guard Tyler Caldwell (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) came off the bench and matched his career high with 12 points (2 3's) and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
 

Perhaps the most impressive showing came from freshman small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) who knocked down all three three-pointers he took—his only three field goal attempts in the game—and finished with nine points and five rebounds in 11 minutes. Junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) had six of his game-high eight assists in the opening half; it was the seventh time this year he's dished at least five assists in an outing.
 
Kean was 1-of-12 from three-point range in the loss. Freshman guard Diego Pujols (Newark, NJ/Barringer) had 11 points (7-10 FT) and three steals. Sophomore guard Jerry Crismond (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) finished with 11 points (5-13 FG).
 
#NotableMoments
 

• Kean led early, 7-4, before Muhammad, who scored seven of NJCU's first 11 points, drilled a three from the left corner. On the next trip down the floor freshman James Frazier (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth), who won his third NJAC Rookie of the Week in five weeks earlier in the day, banged home a three from the right arc for a 14-9 lead at 14:39 at the end of a 10-2 run. A Muhammad tip-in on a third chance made it 19-12 and gave the co-captain nine of NJCU's first 19 points.
• From there, NJCU began taking off. With the shot clock winding down, Julius hit a three from in front of the Kean bench (22-12) and he buried another long three from the left wing with 9:07 left for a 25-14 edge. Tomlin assisted both threes.
• Caldwell passed up a three, and instead opted to pull up for a mid-range jumper, which he hit for a 29-14 cushion as the lead swelled from 16-2 with a 13-2 run, including seven straight points.
• With 6:57 left in the half, Caldwell was well-positioned for an offensive rebound of a miss jumper and scored without leaving his feet for a 31-14 lead, extending the streak to 15-2 with NJCU's ninth straight points.
• When Caldwell drilled a three from the left corner the lead stood at 36-16 with 5:20 remaining to cap the 20-4 spurt. Caldwell scored nine of the final 11 points during the outburst.
• Julius (39-18, 4:20) and Tomlin (42-19, 3:22) later hit threes and 28 seconds later Tomlin canned another three for a 45-19 margin (+26). NJCU led by 29 on three junctures of the period, including halftime.
• NJCU's largest lead came with 11:06 left in the second half when Caldwell hit a three from the left wing—NJCU's 10th and final triple.
• NJCU maintained a 78-42, 36-point lead after a Tomlin steal and fast break with 7:01 left. The Knights did not hit another shot and scored only one point in the final seven minutes after the bench was cleared.

 

#KnightNotes:

• 134th known meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 97-37, and has won the last four meetings.
• Ninth-year head coach Marc Brown has 128 wins (128-104) and is now five shy of matching former coach and athletic director Larry Schiner (133 wins) for second place all-time. The court's namesake, Charlie Brown the all-time wins leads (483).
• NJCU recorded season sweeps of Rutgers-Newark, William Paterson, Rowan and Kean in the same season for the first time since going 17-1 in the league (25-3 overall) in 1989-90.
• The 12 blocks for NJCU were a season high. The last time NJCU had at least 12 blocks was January 9, 2012 when it had 15 against John Jay.
• NJCU's previous first half scoring high was 49 in game one of the season at Brooklyn on November 18.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1,166 career points and is 18th in school history. He surpassed Hall-of-Famer Ed Petersen (1962-66, 1,156 points) and former teammate Walik Albright (2009-12, 2013-14, 1,160 points) on the all-time list. Next up in 17th place: Bob Johnson with 1,178 points from 1968-71.
• Tyler Caldwell previously scored a career-high 12 points at Rutgers-Newark on November 24.
• Yuri Brutus scored in double figures for the ninth time this year.

 
What's Next?:
On Wednesday, February 3, NJCU heads north to Mahwah to tangle with Ramapo College (13-7, 9-4 NJAC, third place). The Knights defeated Ramapo in Jersey City, 87-73, on December 9. The Knights will be seeking a season sweep of the Roadrunners for the second time in three years. In the first meeting senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) had a dominant double-double with career highs of 24 points and 18 rebounds and Robinson registered a near quadruple-double, highlighted by 11 assists. Robinson delivered the most assists by a Gothic Knight since the 2008-09 season, finishing the game with 11 assists, eight points (3-8 FG, 2-4 3FG), eight steals and seven rebounds (six defensive). It will be the 88th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 65-22.  Follow live stats (http://www.sidearmstats.com/ramapo/mbball) or live video (http://www.ramapoathletics.com/showcase).