EWING, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University led wire-to-wire, was never seriously challenged and maintained its hold on first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as the Gothic Knights got redemption for a two-point upset loss to The College of New Jersey in January by roaring past the Lions by 25, 81-56, on February 6 at Packer Hall.
 
NJCU (14-7, 12-3 NJAC) won for the fifth time in six games, guaranteed a winning record for the 38th time in the last 41 seasons and a non-losing season for the 44th time in 46 years. The Knights avenged a 76-74 upset on its home court on January 9, limiting an NJAC opponent to less than 60 points for the second time in three games and the third time in the last six outings. TCNJ, in fifth place, drops to 13-9 and 8-7 NJAC.
 
Stockton defeated Ramapo to keep pace with NJCU at 12-3 although the Knights have a road win over the Ospreys in hand with the two conference leaders set to meet in Jersey City on February 10. Rutgers-Newark (11-4), which was swept by NJCU this season, is in third place with three league games remaining.
 
Junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) achieved his second 20-point performance in as many games—his seventh of the season—scoring 15 in the first half for the second straight game. Harris netted 20 on 6-of-11 shooting with 7-of-8 free throw accuracy and four assists in 29 minutes.
 
Overall, three Gothic Knights scored in double figures and eight players contributed at least six points as the Knights shot 48.3 percent from the field (28-58) and 42.1 percent from three-point range (8-19).

Senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) scored 13 of his 15 in the second half and was 6-of-9 from the field.  Junior point guard Ata Robinson (Newark, NJ/East Side) added 11 points (4-9 FG, 2-5 3FG), five assists and five rebounds in 20 minutes.

Also for the victorious guests, junior forward Chris Freeman (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic Christian)), who had scored just 12 points in 17 games this year and 19 points in 33 career games, had a breakout effort, scoring eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in 16 minutes. Freshman small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) added eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long range and senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) upped his career scoring total to 1,189 points with a well-rounded effort of six points (2-5 FG), a game-high eight rebounds (seven defensive) and five assists.
 
TCNJ's Eric Murdock, Jr., who scored a career-high 28 points in the first meeting of the season, was limited to a team-high 15 points and forced an off-shooting night (6-15 FG) including 0-of-6 from three-point range. He had four assists but five turnovers. Eric Klacik had nine points but shot 2-of-9 overall and 1-of-7 from deep. TCNJ shot 35.4 percent overall (17-48) and just 5-of-25 from beyond the arc on its home court.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• NJCU scored the first eight points of the game—a triple and fast break bucket by Harris and a Muhammad three and extended the early margin to 18-6 at the 12:32 mark when Robinson (13:08) and  junior guard Andrew Tomlin (Newark, NJ/Central) hit consecutive threes.
• The Lions were able to use a 13-4 spurt to momentarily draw within three (22-19) with 6:05 to play before NJCU worked the game back to three possessions and led by eight at halftime, 37-29.
• Robinson scored the first five points of the second half to push the margin back to 13 (42-29). When TCNJ cut the deficit to eight with 14:00 left, Tomlin buried another three and NJCU led by double figures the rest of the game, increasingly widening the margin.
• Up 54-43 with 10:02 to play, NJCU scored eight consecutive points—the last four by reigning NJAC Rookie of the Week  and freshman small forward James Frazier (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth), for a 19-point, 62-43 advantage.
• Ahead by 20, 72-52, with 5:08 to go, a 9-1 run boosted the margin to a game-high 28 points, 81-53, with 2:12 to play on a basket by Freeman before NJCU won by 25.

 

#KnightNotes:

• 137th meeting during the NJAC era (since 1955-56). NJCU leads that all-time series, 74-43.
• Khalid Muhammad now has 1,189 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 17th time in 20 games as a Gothic Knight.
• Chinwe Wosu scored in double figures for the 12th time in 21 games and the first time since January 16 at Montclair State (13), to snap a five-game streak of not reaching 10+ points.
• Ata Robinson scored in double figures for the sixth time this year and had at least five assists for the eighth time.
• Ninth-year head coach Marc Brown has 129 wins (129-105) and is now four 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).

 
What's Next?:
NJCU will play its final non-conference game of the regular season and begin a three-game home stand when it hosts University of Valley Forge on Monday, February 8 (7 p.m.) at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). The game was rescheduled from February 1 (snow makeup date). It will be the fourth meeting in a series NJCU leads, 3-0. On February 16, 2015 in Phoenixville, PA, the Knights rallied from a 70-65 deficit with 2:57 left to win, 71-70, on a layup with four seconds remaining. Khalid Muhammad scored his 1,000th point on the opening play of the game.