JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University trailed by five with 6:18 remaining in a see-saw battle with rival The College of New Jersey, before junior shooting guard Robert Gordon (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) connected for eight consecutive points to gain the lead and the Gothic Knights pushed the margin to six on late triples by sophomore power forward Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) and junior shooting guard Lavrone Green (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck). TCNJ whittled the deficit to two and senior point guard Eric Murdock, Jr. had a chance to tie the game from the line with 6.4 seconds remaining. He made the first but missed the second and Toney grabbed the rebound, allowing NJCU to run out the clock in a thrilling 80-79 New Jersey Athletic Conference win at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center ('Coach Charlie Brown Court') on January 27.
 
In the second meeting in six days between the clubs, the Gothic Knights had to win to keep alive hopes of a winning the regular season NJAC title and did so, snapping TCNJ's seven-game winning streak in the process. The Lions are still 16-4 and atop the NJAC standings at 11-2 overall but the Knights, also 16-4 overall, are now just one game behind at 10-3 with five games remaining. The rivals split the season series with TCNJ prevailing in Ewing on January 22. With the win, NJCU clinched an NJAC Tournament berth for the sixth consecutive year.
 
Toney, the NJAC leader in scoring and rebounding, produced his ninth double-double of the season with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
 
Green added 15 points on just five field goal attempts (3-5 FG, 3-4 3FG), hitting all six foul shots he attempted. Gordon scored in double figures for the second straight game since coming back from injury, finishing with 14 points (5-8 FG, 2-5 3FG).
 
Gordon sparked NJCU's bench, which outscored TCNJ's reserves 27-3, and the Gothic Knight depth had a direct impact on the outcome.
 
Sophomore guard Niall Carpenter (Westampton, N.J.) was 6-of-8 from three-point range, including a big three with 41.3 seconds left to make it a two-point game. He finished with a game-high 26 points (9-16 FG) and three assists and Murdock, Jr. had 17 points (5-15 FG, 7-10 FT) and 10 assists in a full 40 minutes.
 
Sophomore guard Randy Walko (Somerville, N.J.) finished with 14 points (4-8 FG, 3-6 3FG) and seven rebounds in 37 minutes.  Junior forward Jordan Glover (Trenton, N.J.) added 14 points on 3-of-7 three-point shooting (5-12 FG).
 
Junior small forward James Julius (Linden, NJ/Linden) had eight points, junior point guard Shaquan Worthy (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) added eight points, three assists and three steals and junior center Yuri Brutus (Roselle, NJ/Roselle Park) finished with eight rebounds, six points and two blocks.
 
Overall, TCNJ shot 12-of-26 from three-point range—46.2 percent accuracy—but the Knights countered by hitting nine threes and shooting 48.3 percent overall from the floor (28-58).  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In the first half, NJCU gained a quick 6-0 lead on back-to-back threes by Green and led 10-5 on a Toney pull up jumper. Toney's NBA range three made it 13-6 and after a pair of foul shots by Green pushed it to 18-10, Green (8) and Toney (7) accounted for 15 of NJCU's first 18 points.
 
Toney had 13 at halftime with six rebounds and Green had 10, making both threes he attempted. Glover had 14 at the break (5-8, 3-5 3FG) and Carpenter had 13. Murdock, Jr. had seven points and five assists.
 
NJCU still led 22-15 at the midway point when Toney powered to the rim over two players. A three by Carpenter cut it to 24-21 and his layup with 6:25 left gave TCNJ its first lead of the game (27-26). The Lions worked the lead up to five (41-36) when Glover hit a three with 1:11 left before a three-point play by Julius with two seconds left made it a two-point game at the break (41-39).
 
In the second half, the Knights used a 7-1 streak to move back in front by three (46-43) but it was brief and after TCNJ tied it at 46-46, the two clubs buckled down for a game that would feature 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
 
Carpenter hit back-to-back threes to regain the lead and a Walko triple made it 52-48. He hit another for a 55-51 lead before baskets by Worthy, Gordon and sophomore guard Jeff Haddock (Burlington Township, NJ/Willingboro) put NJCU back in front 57-55. The teams would trade ties at 59-59 and after a four-point play by Walko off a made three and foul, Julius buried a trey to even it at 64-64.
 
The Lions tried to pull away, pushing the lead to 69-64 with 6:18 left when Murdock, Jr. grabbed a rebound off a missed NJCU foul shot, raced down court in transition and capitalized for a three-point play.
 
But this time the Knights responded. Gordon scored on a driving layup with 5:16 remaining to begin the spark. Then after a miss for TCNJ, Toney grabbed rebound, drove down the floor and kicked out the ball to Gordon in the right corner for a game-tying triple, 69-69.
 
The two would connect again. After NJCU missed a three, Toney grabbed another rebound, found Gordon again on the right sideline where he buried another three to give NJCU a 72-70 edge with 4:11 left. Murdock, Jr. slipped through traffic for an uncontested coast-to-coast layup to tie it 12 seconds later.
 
Tied at 72-72, Toney drilled a fall away three for his 21st point with 2:50 left to put NJCU in front for good and Green nailed another three off a Toney assist with 2:09 to go to make it a 78-72 lead.
 
Carpenter hit a three on a second-chance opportunity for the Lions with 1:39 left to shave it to 78-75. After NJCU made two of the next foul shots (80-75), Murdock, Jr. found Carpenter on the right arc with under 42 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game. The Knights had a chance to put the game away with 14.5 seconds left but missed both foul shots and Murdock, Jr. forced his way to the line. After making the first, he had a chance to tie the game but it missed, Toney grabbed the board, fed Worthy and NJCU pushed the ball up the floor to run out the clock.
 
QUOTABLES:
Post-game interview on Facebook Live with Robert Gordon (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia), Lavrone Green (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) and Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown):
https://www.facebook.com/NJCUGothicKnights/videos/10155615904754915/
 
Head Coach Marc Brown (11th season) on the win:
"This was just a gut check. This was a game where we needed every minute in a one-point win. If we have any aspirations of finishing first in this league, this is a game we had to have. That's what it comes down to. I applaud my guys for their effort today. Defensively we still have so much to work on, it's scary. Anytime you give up 44 percent shooting from the field and 46 from three it's not good but what we're doing now is we're scoring well now, shooting almost 50 percent [combined] in the last couple games. We're going to enjoy this win and get ready for Kean."
 
On Robert Gordon (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia)'s contributions: "Rob is playing with a lot of confidence right now. He's an important member of our team and is a guy who's doing what I thought he could do. He hasn't really played since high school so it took some time to get used to the game—the speed and the level of play in the NJAC—and obviously he picked a great time to get hot for us! We're happy about his contributions and hope they can continue."  

 

NOTABLES:

• Series: 143rd known meeting during the NJAC era (since 1955-56). NJCU leads all-time, 77-46.
• NJCU and TCNJ split the regular season series for the fifth consecutive year.
• NJCU receiving 28 points in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll (28th nationally).
• TCNJ lost for the first time since a 65-53 loss at William Paterson on January 3.
• Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) scored in double figures for the 36th time in 49 career games.
• Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) scored at least 20 points in a game for the 15th time in his career and the 12th time in 20 games this season.
• Toney reached double figures in rebounds for the 15th time in his career and 10th time this year.
• Toney produced his 14th career double-double and ninth of the season.
• Lavrone Green (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) reached double figures in scoring for the 16th time in 20 games as a Gothic Knight. For Green, it was the 33rd double digit scoring effort of his collegiate career.
• Robert Gordon (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) had 33 points in his last two games after not reaching double figures in his previous outings for NJCU.

 
UP NEXT:
NJCU heads to Union, N.J. and will face Kean University (5-15, 3-10 NJAC, Lost 6) on Wednesday, January 31 at 8 p.m. at Harwood Arena. NJCU defeated Kean, 87-76, on December 6, in Jersey City. It will be the 138th known meeting. NJCU leads all-time, 100-37, winning the last eight meetings.
 
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