JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In a late-season battle of the top two teams in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, New Jersey City University trailed Stockton University 20-3 and by as many as 12 in the second half before igniting in the final 10 minutes. The Gothic Knights did not allow a basket in the final 5:35 and outscored the No. 1 ranked team in the Atlantic Region by a 10-1 margin to close the game as NJCU rallied for a scintillating 68-61 over Stockton on February 10 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
NJCU (16-7, 13-3 NJAC) is now on the verge of its first NJAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed and home court advantage throughout the NJAC Tournament. The Knights won for the seventh time in their last eight games, swept a season series from Stockton for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign and thwarted the Ospreys' eight-game winning streak while denying 30th year head coach Gerry Matthews his 600th career win. NJCU is now 9-1 at home this season. The Ospreys (17-6, 12-4 NJAC) lost for the first time since January 9 (at Ramapo, 70-64).
 
If NJCU, ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings released earlier in the day, can defeat Montclair State at home on February 13, it will clinch the league's regular season title and the post-season advantages that it entails.
 
NJCU won despite shooting just 17.6 percent in the first half (6-34) and 1-of-12 from three-point range (8.3 percent) in those 20 minutes when Stockton hit 48.3 percent of its shots (14-29). The 61 points are a season low for Stockton.
 
Junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) scored 11 of his 15 in the second half and hit two crucial shots—a three-pointer with 7:22 left to trim what had been a 53-43 deficit with 10:20 to play into a one-point, 57-56 hole—and his steal and fast break basket with 5:57 left gave NJCU its first lead, 58-57, at the end of a 15-4 outburst.
 
After Stockton momentarily regained a 60-58 edge on a three from the right arc by sophomore forward Marcus Harmon (Whitesboro, NJ/Middle Township) with 5:35 to go,  freshman small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) scored his only two baskets of the game at the most urgent time. He drilled a three from in front of his own bench with 5:10 to play to put NJCU back on top and after Stockton was forced into three turnovers over the next two minutes, Julius buried another trey with the shot clock winding down and 3:12 on the clock to boost the lead to 64-60.
 NJCU forced Stockton into four turnovers and 0-for-4 shooting in the final minutes. After the fourth turnover by Stockton on a steal by senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) gave NJCU the ball back and with the shot clock again winding down, a pull-up jumper by junior guard Andrew Tomlin (Newark, NJ/Central) hit the rim, bounced in the air and fell through the nylon for a 66-60 cushion with 2:23 left.
 
Senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) and Julius grabbed key defensive rebounds the next two Stockton trips down the floor and with the margin five (66-61) with 55.7 ticks left, Julius seized a defensive board of a missed Stockton foul shot. Wosu scored his only points of the game on the low post with 25.7 seconds left to push the lead to seven and a Julius rebound of another Stockton miss.
 Harris had an off shooting night overall as did most of the team. But he hit two threes and was 5-of-6 from the line with three assists. Tomlin came off the bench to score 11 on 3-of-6 shooting (2-5 3FG) and 12 Gothic Knights scored in the win. Muhammad had seven points, six boards and two steals, Julius netted seven on 2-of-4 three-point shooting with five defensive caroms and two steals, and freshman center Yuri Brutus (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) contributed six rebounds (five offensive), four points and three steals.
 
Harmon scored 14 of his game-high 18 in the second half for Stockton, shooting 6-of-11 (5-5 FT) with six rebounds in 33 minutes. Senior guard Armin Cane (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) finished with 14 points (6-12 FG), eight rebounds and three steals and junior forward Jaymere Hadden (Millville, NJ/Millville) added 14 (6-13 FG) off the bench. No other player scored more than five for Stockton.

 

NJCU won despite shooting just 30.2 percent for the evening (19-63) and 28.0 percent from three-point range (7-25) before its defensive intensity forced the Ospreys into 23 turnovers. NJCU outscored Stockton 23-14 in points off giveaways and Stockton was limited to 1-of-9 three-point shooting in the second half and 4-of-18 overall (.222).
 
OTHER KEY MOMENTS:

• NJCU looked to be in trouble early as the guests jumped out to an 11-1 lead when Hadden hit a three from the left side. A three from the left corner by Cane (14:30) made it 16-3. Cane grabbed an uncontested offensive rebound and put back for an 18-3 edge with 13:07 to go before an Osprey steal and fast break elevated it to 20-3 just 7:13 into the action. That 17-point margin matched Stockton's largest.
• NJCU began to slowly scratch away. With 6:33 to go in the half, junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) hit a three to cut it to nine (26-17) and it was an eight-point deficit with 2:40 left when Harris hit a pair from the line after the first of two technical fouls whistled on the visitors. With 3:29 left in the first half NJCU was still shooting 4-of-28 overall (.143) and Stockton was over 54 percent (13-24, .542).
• Stockton worked the lead back to 13 with 1:37 on the board when freshman guard Kashaun Barnes (Toms River, NJ/Manchester Township) hit a straightaway three.
• NJCU closed the first half on a 7-0 run. A basket by Muhammad, three NJCU foul shots, and a tip-in by Muhammad's younger brother, freshman point guard Keshawn Alexander (Orange, NJ/Orange), cut the deficit to six, 34-28, at halftime.
• NJCU extended the run to 10-0 to open the second half. NJCU eventually was able to draw with five (46-41) with 14:44 left when Tomlin canned a three before Stockton scored the seven points and pushed the lead back to 12, 53-41, when junior forward Maurice Hart (Asbury Park, NJ/Asbury Park) scored on the fast break.
• NJCU used an initial 10-1 run over the next 3:32 and cut the deficit to three, 54-51 with 8:38 to play after triples by Harris and Tomlin. After Harmon scored on a fast break with 8:27 to go he was whistled for a technical foul and Harris capitalized, sinking both to make it a three-point game (56-53), leading up to the late-game heroics.

 

QUOTABLE KNIGHTS
 
Head Coach Marc Brown, 9th season, on the first half:
"We couldn't make a shot. We kept getting great looks but couldn't make a shot. It was uncharacteristic of us. They were playing harder than we were and with more confidence. This was an important game and a pressure game. In the first half we didn't handle the pressure well."
 
Brown on what changed in the second half:
"When my second unit came in in the middle of the first half, it changed the whole complexion of the game. The second unit—Drew [Tomlin], James [Julius], Tyler [freshman guard Tyler Caldwell (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder)] played hard. Keshawn [Alexander] was unbelievable defensively. We almost went into halftime tied. To go into halftime only down six when shooting 17 percent is a testament to the second group that came in and played unbelievable defense. That was the key to me."
 
Brown on the final five minutes:
"James Julius is a winner. He comes from a winning high school program and he was the one guy I told my coaching staff was very important to get as a recruit. He was one of the freshmen we were really excited to get. He came from a tough program with a tough coach that played in state finals. Anything he does, even as a freshman, doesn't surprise me. He's willing to take big shots. Jalen [Harris] is willing to take and make big shots. We dug down defensively, got the stops we needed, and we won because we're resilient and we've showed our resiliency all year."
 
Brown on the chance to win a regular season championship on its home court on Senior Day:
"It means a lot. I was talking to Coach [Marques] Bragg and we can't believe where we are. We are putting ourselves in position to get in the playoffs and at least have one home game. This will be my first time as a head coach winning a regular season title. I'm surprised by the result. When you get a group of guys that play hard and concentrate defensively you will always be in games. We're going to have games where we won't make all the shots but we have to play hard and we have to play defense."
 
#KnightNotes:

• 79th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 45-34, and has won the last three meetings.
• The 61 points are the least Stockton has scored in a game this year. Its previous low was 62 in a win (62-56) over Alvernia on January 2.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1,202 career points and is 17th in school history. Next up in 16th place in Hall-of-Famer John Celentano who scored 1,230 points from 1971-74.
• Jalen Harris scored in double figures for the 19th time in 22 games as a Gothic Knight.
• Andrew Tomlin scored in double figures for the second time in 10 games since joining the team on January 13.
• Ninth-year head coach Marc Brown has 131 wins (131-105) and is now two shy of matching former coach and athletic director Larry Schiner (133 wins) for second place all-time. His father, Charlie Brown, is the all-time wins leader (483).
• NJCU's 30.2 percent field goal percentage was a season low; the previous low was 33.3 percent on two occasions.

 
What's Next?:
On Saturday, February 13 NJCU will host Montclair State in the final regular season home game at 4 p.m. Prior to the game NJCU will honor its three seniors—Muhammad, Wosu, and senior shooting guard David Cole (Avenel, NJ/Colonia), who was lost for most of the season with a knee injury before returning this week. A win by NJCU will clinch the program's first regular season championship since the 2006-07 campaign when it was a 13-game, two-division format. NJCU's last regular season title in the twice-around, 18-game format was the 1991-92 season. When NJCU last won the NJAC championship in 2011, it was the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
 
It will be the 166th meeting between the schools. MSU owns a 92-73 series lead dating to the early 1930s. In the first meeting between the schools on January 16 in Montclair, NJ, the Red Hawks upset NJCU by one point, 72-71. In that game the clubs were tied for the 11th time in the game with 90 seconds left before MSU used a three-point play, three free throws and two defensive stops in the next 30 seconds and held off a near final moment rally from the first place Gothic Knights.