JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Fifth-seeded The College of New Jersey knocked down its first seven three-point field goal tries to open the game and used that sharp shooting to surge to a 25-6 lead and held off a second half comeback bid from top-seeded New Jersey City University in a 92-82 upset of the Gothic Knights on February 24 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals played at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
TCNJ sophomore guard Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) scored 18 in each half and finished with a career-high 36 points as the Lions (16-11) pulled off their second straight road upset to advance to the NJAC championship game on Saturday, February 27. The Lions will head to Galloway, NJ to face two-time defending NJAC champion Stockton; the second-seeded Ospreys upended No. 3 Rutgers-Newark, 95-75, in the other semifinal matchup. TCNJ will be seeking its first NJAC title since 1998.
 
Meanwhile, the Gothic Knights (18-8), the NJAC regular season champions and No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region, have their five-game winning streak snapped and now must await news of either an NCAA Tournament at-large bid or a potential ECAC Division III Metro Tournament berth on February 29 to continue its season. NJCU had won nine of its last 10 games coming in.
 
NJCU is 10-2 on its home court this season and both losses have come at the hands of the Lions. It was NJCU's first home-court loss to TCNJ in the NJAC Tournament since an 84-78 setback on February 22, 1978.
 
The teams were squaring off in the NJAC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Gothic Knights were appearing in the NJAC Tournament for the fourth straight season and the 29th time since 1977-78.
 
NJCU, which lost by two at home to TCNJ on January 9 (76-74),suffered two losses at home against one team for the first time since the 1984-85 season when William Paterson also upended then-Jersey City State at home by two points in the regular season and then again by two in the NJAC semifinals.
 
Murdock, who previously scored a career-high 28 in the game on January 9, produced 11 of TCNJ's first 22 points and scored 36 on 13-of-22 shooting and 4-of-7 from three-point range. He was 6-of-10 at the line and added six assists and six rebounds in a full 40 minutes of action. Junior guard Eric Klacik (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) notched 20 points (5-12 FG) with three triples (3-8) and was 7-of-8 from the line with five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.
 

Junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) scored at least 20 in a game for the ninth time this season, as he registered 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting (7-10 FT; 2-6 3FG) with six assists in 34 minutes.
 
Senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) added 18 points (6-10 FG) and nine rebounds in 32 minutes to move into 16th place in school history in scoring (1,231 points). Freshman small forward James Frazier (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) finished with 12 points (5-12 FG). Freshman small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) had eight points (2-5 3FG) and junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) collected seven points (3-6 FG), seven assists and six rebounds.
 
The Lions also received 16 points from freshman forward Jordan Glover (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) who connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Junior guard Nick Alaimo (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) went 7-of-9 from the line.
 
TCNJ made nine three pointers in the first half when it shot 52.9 percent from that distance (9-17) and was 12-25 in the win, shooting 48 percent from deep. The Lions shot an even 50 percent from the field (27-54) and were 26-of-35 from the foul line (.743).

NJCU didn't have a bad shooting night, making more field goals than TCNJ (30-70, .429) but were just 6-of-23 from three-point distance (.261). The Knights outrebounded TCNJ, 44-34, including 17-8 on the offensive window, but had just 15 second chance points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• TCNJ scored the first five points of the game and led 11-2 after its third made three from the third different players—Murdock, Klacik and Glover. A fourth three—this time by Klacik— from the left corner pushed the lead to 14-2 just 3:20 into the game. Murdock stepped back and hit a three and TCNJ was 5-for-5 from three-point range and led 17-4 edge.
• When Murdock hit another three from the same spot—his third in the first 4:21 of the game and the sixth for the Lions—it was 20-6. Murdock was 4-of-5 from the field to open the night. He hit another jumper for a 22-6 margin and his 11th point and Klacik scored eight of the 22.  The lead swelled to 19 and the streak was 7-for-7 when sophomore forward Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) knocked down another trey. NJCU drew as close as 11 in the half before the Lions took a 15-point advantage to the break.
• NJCU tried to make a game of it, opening the second half on a 12-3 run. Muhammad scored seven of the 12.
• Muhammad scored the first five points of the second half for NJCU and drilled a three from the right arc (51-40, 18:01). A long running jumper by Muhammad cut it to single digits, 51-42. After a Muhammad jumper, Robinson drilled a three to make it a six-point game, 51-45 before a three from Klacik quieted the outburst.
• NJCU came as close as it would with 15:05 remaining when Harris scored coast-to-coast to cut the deficit to five (54-49) and after TCNJ went back up nine, Harris drilled a triple to make it a 58-52 game. It was 60-54 with 12:44 left.
• But a three from the right side by Glover with 11:47 on the clock pushed the lead back to double digits (65-54). Murdock's 26th point, a steal and fast break made it 67-55. He hit two foul shots (10:55) for his 28th point and a 69-55 lead and the Lions began the final separation. A three from the corner by freshman guard Kevin Bloodgood (Oceanport, NJ/Shore Regional) saw the lead reach 16 (73-57) before two foul shots by Klacik gave the Lions their largest margin of the second half at 18 points (75-57) with 9:06 to play, to cap a 15-3 decisive tear. Murdock's 30th point, a jumper from the left of the lane, made it 79-64 with 7:28 to go. NJCU couldn't get any closer than nine the rest of the game.

Quotable Knights:
 
Head Coach Marc Brown, 9th season (133-106), on TCNJ's hot start:
"They hit us right in the mouth from the door. I think the stage was too big for some of our guys. We had a poor practice yesterday and weren't sharp after several good practices. One thing I said all year, this was a team that played hard and played together but we weren't the best team. After we won the regular season title, I still thought there were teams in the league with more talent than us. Our will and our desire got us the regular season title. The support was there. We had a lot of support from our fans. There was pressure on us tonight being the top seed. They [TCNJ] came into the game like they did at Ramapo. They came in loose and took it to us from the beginning of the game."
 
Brown on what he told his players after the game:
"I was completely disappointed. It's hard to be positive and upbeat. I was most disappointed in their effort. A lot of guys didn't come ready to play. This is a loss that's going to sting for a while. It's not too often you get to be an NJAC champion or host an NJAC final. They're going to have to live with this one. The strategy was there. We knew who we had to stop and we didn't execute, offensively or defensively. They [TCNJ] wanted it more. TCNJ wanted to win more than we did."
 
Brown on what NJCU's case is to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee:
"We had a really good conference season. We were picked fourth. We swept a team [Stockton] that will probably win the NJAC title. We had some big non-conference losses and if we had won one or two of those losses it would help. But to be the NJAC regular season champion is pretty impressive and hopefully the committee will look at that."
 
Brown on the support from the crowd:
"I wanted to thank all the fans for their support and all the student-athletes from all the programs, especially baseball and men's volleyball and to the coaches who made t-shirts for the game. I want you to know how much that is appreciated."

#KnightNotes:

• 138th meeting during the NJAC era (since 1955-56). NJCU leads that all-time series, 74-44.
• NJCU is 5-3 all-time against the Lions in the NJAC Tournament and 3-2 in Jersey City. The programs were facing off in an NJAC Tournament game in Jersey City for the first time in exactly 26 years (January 24, 1990). JCSC won that game, 79-69.
• NJCU lost in the NJAC semifinals for the second consecutive season.
• NJCU was the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign.
• NJCU, making its 29th appearance in the NJAC Tournament since 1977-78, is now 20-22 all-time in the event and 16-10 at home. NJCU still owns the all-time NJAC record with 12 conference championships. Stockton will be seeking its ninth and TCNJ its third.
• Ninth-year head coach Marc Brown still has 133 wins (133-105) and is tied with former coach and athletic director Larry Schiner (133 wins) for second place all-time. His father, Charlie Brown, who was celebrating his birthday on February 24, is the all-time wins leader (483).
• The 15-point halftime deficit was NJCU's largest of the season; the previous high was 14 (42-28) in a loss to Western Connecticut on December 30.
• Jalen Harris scored in double figures for the 22nd time in 25 games as a Gothic Knight and his 13th consecutive game.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1,231 career points and is 16th in school history, passing Hall-of-Famer John Celentano who scored 1,230 points from 1971-74. Hall-of-Famer Steve Schindler is 15th with 1263 points in three seasons (1970-73).
• James Frazier scored in double figures for the seventh time in 17 games since joining the team on December 29, but the first time since scoring 17 against Rowan on January 30.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU will learn its post-season fate on Monday, February 29. NJCU is currently the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region for a second consecutive week while Stockton is second. DeSales, the third ranked team in the region and No. 1 in the MAC Freedom Conference, also fell in its league semifinal tonight. The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Selection Show will air this Monday, February 29th at 12:30 PM ET on NCAA.com. Fans can watch the show live by clicking here. If NJCU does not get selected to its 18th NCAA Tournament and first since 2011, it likely will be a high seed in the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament which opens on Wednesday, March 2.