New Jersey City University Athletics

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University will play for its 13th New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball championship in its illustrious history on Friday, February 24 as the No. 21 ranked and third-seeded Gothic Knights (21-6, 13-5 NJAC, Won 3) meet top-seeded and No. 7 ranked Ramapo College (24-2, 16-2 NJAC, Won 4) at the Bill Bradley Center in Mahwah, N.J. The Roadrunners are 11-0 at home this season.
 
RANKINGS: NJCU re-entered the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll this week at No. 21 nationally after a two-week absence, receiving votes. NJCU was ranked in all five polls during the month of January, with a high of No. 20—the highest ever for the Knights by D3hoops.com. NJCU has been ranked six weeks this season and received votes in every poll. NJCU receiving 86 points in the national poll. The Knights also climbed to No. 3 in the NCAA Atlantic Region in the third regional rankings report released on February 22. NJCU has moved up one place in each of the three polls conducted.
 
Ramapo has reached a season high of No. 7 in the D3hoops Top 25 poll. The Roadrunners were No. 2 in the week one Atlantic Region rankings, and No. 1 last week, before falling back to second this week.
 
SERIES: It will be the 91st meeting all-time between NJCU and Ramapo. NJCU leads the all-time series, 66-24. The squads split the 2016-17 season series, with each team winning on its home floor. NJCU won in Jersey City on January 14, 76-71 (one overtime) to hand the Roadrunners their first loss after a 14-0 start; then No. 11 RCNJ won the rematch in Mahwah on February 11, 78-70, thanks to a late 11-0 run.
 
PAST NJAC TOURNAMENT MEETINGS: Tonight will be the third meeting between NJCU and Ramapo in the NJAC Tournament and the first meeting between the schools in Mahwah, N.J. Ramapo is 2-0 all-time against NJCU in the conference tournament, with both games occurring in Jersey City. The first was an 89-78 result in the 2006 NJAC Quarterfinals (February 21, 2006).
 
In what may be considered as one of the greatest NJAC games ever played, the only meeting between the schools in the conference finals came on February 23, 2007 when Ramapo edged NJCU, 83-81, in overtime. That game saw 18 lead changes; RCNJ tied it with 7.5 seconds remaining to force overtime, then broke an 81-81 tie with a short jumper with 3.8 seconds left to win.
 
NJCU in the NJAC TOURNAMENT: NJCU has won an all-time record 12 NJAC championships—one more than William Paterson University's 11; the Pioneers have won six NJAC titles since 2000 to chip away at the Gothic Knight record.
 
NJCU has won NJAC titles in 1960-61, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1978-79, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1994-95, 2003-04 and 2010-11.
 
NJCU is playing in the NJAC Tournament championship game for the 12th time in school history since the league began its postseason tournament during the 1977-78 season. The Knights are 7-4 all-time in league championship games and 1-1 in title road games, winning at Stockton on February 24, 1979 (89-68) but losing at William Paterson on February 23, 2001 (88-72). It is the first road conference championship game for NJCU in 16 years.
 
NJCU is making its 30th appearance in the NJAC Tournament since 1977-78 and owns a 22-22 all-time in the tournament in 44 games. NJCU is 5-12 all-time in NJAC Tournament road games.
 

 

NJCU ALL-TIME IN NEW JERSEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
DATE	RK	SITE	OPPONENT	LOCATION	W/L	NJCU	OPP.	MARGIN
2/24/1979		A	Stockton State	Pomona, NJ	W	89	68	21
2/1980		H	William Paterson	Jersey City, NJ	L	79	88	-9
2/25/1983		H	William Paterson	Jersey City, NJ	L	69	72	-3
2/21/1986		H	Trenton State	Jersey City, NJ	W	87	77	10
2/24/1990		H	Trenton State	Jersey City, NJ	W	79	69	10
2/29/1992		H	Kean	Jersey City, NJ	W	76	68	8
2/24/1995		H	Montclair State	Jersey City, NJ	W	67	50	17
2/23/2001		A	William Paterson	Wayne, NJ	L	72	88	-16
2/28/2004		H	Rowan	Jersey City, NJ	W	88	75	13
2/23/2007		H	Ramapo	Jersey City, NJ	L (OT)	81	83	-2
2/25/2011		H	Montclair State	Jersey City, NJ	W	72	67	5
2/24/2017	#7	A	Ramapo	Mahwah, NJ	N/A

MILESTONE BIRTHDAY: NJCU has a chance to give legendary Gothic Knight coach Charlie Brown a title on a milestone day in his life—his 75th birthday. Brown, a six-time NJAC Coach of the Year, led Jersey City State/NJCU to conference championships five times—1985-86, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1994-95, and 2003-04—and later the 1986 and 1992 NCAA Division III Final Fours, before retiring with a then-NJAC record 483 career victories.  

 
He was inducted into the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame for the third time in his career on January 26 when the 1963-64 NJAC and NAIA District championship team he captained, became the first Gothic Knight team enshrined in 36 years. Brown is one of only two individuals enshrined twice—as a player (1979 inductee) and a coach (2011 inductee).
 
Center court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center was named 'Coach Charlie Brown Court' in his honor in November, 2008. NJCU was 12-0 at home this season and owns an active 18-game home court regular season winning streak on his floor.
 
20 WINS: NJCU has claimed its second consecutive 20-win season and the 16th 20-win season in program history. It is the first time NJCU has won 20 games in consecutive seasons since doing so three straight years from 1987-90.
 
AWARDS CENTRAL: NJCU cleaned up this season, as Chinwe Wosu was named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Sam Toney was the obvious choice for NJAC Rookie of the Year and Jalen Harris was voted First-Team All-NJAC and was the lone player to receive a vote for NJAC Player of the Year other than Ramapo's Thomas Bonacum, the league winner.
 
Wosu is the first player to repeat as NJAC Defensive Player of the Year since Ramapo's Amin Wright won in 2003-04 and 2004-05. Ramapo's Tennyson Whitted secured the distinction in three straight seasons from 2000-03. It is the fourth time an NJCU player has been honored since Defensive Player of the Year was first presented in 1998-99. NJCU Hall of Famer and current assistant coach Jonathan Greene was co-winner in the inaugural season while Keith Williams took home the accolade in 2011-12.
 
Toney, a seven-time NJAC Rookie of the Week choice in 14 possible weeks and a three-time ECAC Rookie of the Week, is the first NJCU newcomer to claim the honor since Khalid Muhammad in 2012-13. Records go back as far as 1987-88 and Toney is the seventh Gothic Knight to be Rookie of the Year in that span. In addition to Muhammad, current assistant coach and NJCU Hall of Famer Abdul Madison was co-winner in 1993-94. Other winners include Omar Cooper (1994-95), Samar Battle (2000-01), Rashawn Smalls (2008-09) and Isaiah Johnson (2009-10).  Toney has scored in double figures 17 times in 27 games.
 
HARRIS APPROACHING 1,000: Jalen Harris, a two-time NJAC Player of the Week selection this year, now needs 43 points to become the 29th member of the 1,000-point club and just the first player to accomplish the feat in a two-year career. He has scored 957 points in 55 games as a Gothic Knight.
 
Harris now has scored 1,061 total points as a collegiate basketball player—957 at NJCU, 42 in 11 games at Albright (2014-15) and 62 in 23 games at Nyack (2013-14).
 
Harris has scored in double figures for 49 times in 55 career games as a Gothic Knight. He has 124 career three-pointers and needs one more to become the fifth NJCU player with 125 career threes (Dana John, 209, 2005-08; Josh Lopez, 176, 2006-10; Mark Washington, 160, 2002-06; Jeff Jordan, 125, 1987-91).

Harris has scored 20 or more points 10 times this season and 20 times in two seasons at NJCU. He has two 30-point efforts, including a career-high 31 on February 15 against Stockton.