JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The nationally No. 16 ranked New Jersey City University men's basketball team (3-1) open up their home 2018-19 schedule with a non-conference holiday weekend matchup against Farmingdale State College (3-0) on Saturday, November 24 at 2:00 p.m. on Coach Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
 
First-Team Preseason All-American junior forward Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) enters the game with 985 points and in career game 61 needs just 15 points to become the 29th member of NJCU's 1000-point club and the first since current assistant coach Walik Albright reached the milestone in 2014.
 
COVERAGE:

• GOTHICVISION BROADCAST LINK: http://vcloud.volarvideo.com/broadcast/embed/98583?slug=2018-11-24-mbasketball-vs-farmingdale-state  
• ANNOUNCER: Dom Savino
• LIVE STATS: https://njcugothicknights.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

 
ADMISSION:

• General Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children/seniors.
• NJCU students are admitted free with student ID. As part of the NJAC's Cans Across the Conference food drive initiative, all fans who bring three (3) canned or non-perishable items will be admitted free.  

 

2018-19 NJCU in the NJAC | Full Leaders
CATEGORY	RANK (of 10)	STAT
Scoring Offense	4th	78.2 per game
Scoring Defense:	4th	70.0 per game
Scoring Margin:	3rd	+8.2 per game
Free Throw Pct.	4th	.712
Field Goal Percentage	8th	.383
Field Goal Percentage Defense	3rd	.393
3-Point Field Goal Percentage	7th	.309
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense	2nd	.299
Rebounding Offense	2nd	47.0 per game
Rebounding Defense	5th	37.2 per game
Rebounding Margin	2nd	+9.8 per game
Blocked Shots	1st	4.8 per game
Assists	6th	10.8 per game
Steals	3rd	10.8 per game
Turnover Margin	4th	+2.25 per game
Assist/Turnover Ratio	9th	0.6
Offensive Rebounding	1st	17.0 per game
Defensive Rebounding	3rd	30.0 per game
Defensive Rebounding Percentage	4th	.736
Offensive Rebounding Percentage	2nd	.391
3-Pointers Made	7th	6.3 per game

QUICK HITS:

• The Gothic Knights have bounced back to win three straight after an opening night loss against Stevens Institute (3-1). They won a pair of tight games at the Eastern Mennonite EMU Tip-Off Invitational, before crushing Kean University (1-4) in their 2018-19 New Jersey Athletic Conference opener on Tuesday night.
• Farmingdale State is an excellent non-conference opponent and traditionally one of the better teams in the Atlantic Region. The Rams went 18-8 last year and 16-4 in the Skyline Conference. They received five of 11 first place votes in the Skyline preseason poll. FSC has won all three of their 2018-19 games—averaging 82.7 points over those games—sweeping the Stockton Tip-Off before dropping 102 points in a win over St. Joseph's Brooklyn (0-3).
• The Rams have won back-to-back Skyline regular season championships in 2016-17 and 2017-18. However, the preseason Skyline poll landed them second in the conference behind Yeshiva University, which won the league's postseason tournament.
• The Knights are led first and foremost by Toney, who is averaged 20.6 points and 9.7 rebounds last season, and the junior tri-captain has picked up right where he left off, averaging 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Knights 3-1 start. Toney's best game of the year came in the opener of the Eastern Mennonite Tournament, when he went off for 28 points sparked by seven made threes.
• Joining Toney in double-figure point averages in 2018-19 are sophomore guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/(East Orange Campus), and junior guard Jeff Haddock, Jr. (Burlington Township, NJ/Willingboro)
• Banks has been the spark plug off the bench, while Haddock has been the perimeter specialist to Toney's inside-out game. Senior forward Yuri Brutus (Roselle, NJ/Roselle Park) and sophomore center Chika Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter)) provide the size inside.
• Farmingdale had four double-digit scorers last season, three of whom returned this year. Leading the way for the Rams in 2018-19 so far is senior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.), who is averaging nearly a point a minute, with 21.7 points per game in 23.0 minutes per game. Junior guard Ryan Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y.), senior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.), and senior guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) join Riefenstahl in double-digits this season.

 
SERIES:

• 12th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 9-2.

 
LAST MEETING:

• NJCU won last year's meeting in Farmingdale, N.Y. by a 77-71 margin. In that game played on November 25, 2017, Toney had 24 points and six assists and Lavrone Green (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) added 19 points. Brutus finished with 10 points and seven boards. NJCU trailed by four at the half by hit 10 threes in the game and outscored FSC, 38-28, in the second half.

 
GOTHIC KNIGHTS on SOCIAL MEDIA:
For the latest on NJCU men's basketball and #NJCUMBB, follow the Gothic Knights on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and SnapChat. Preferred hashtags are GothicGameDay and GothicFamily.