JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The nationally No. 24 ranked New Jersey City University men's basketball team (4-2, 1-1 NJAC) will host Rowan University (4-1, 1-1 NJAC) in their first home New Jersey Athletic Conference game of the 2018-19 campaign, after opening NJAC play with a pair of road games. The game will take place at 3:00 p.m. on Coach Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. On Wednesday, in their most recent NJAC game, the Knights were upset by a hot-shooting William Paterson team.
 
One bright spot from the loss to WP was a career milestone for First-Team Preseason All-American junior forward Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown), who eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for his career, becoming the 29th member of NJCU's 1000-point club and the first since Khalid Muhammad late in the 2014-15 season. He reached the milestone in only his 62nd career game—the sixth of his junior season.
 
COVERAGE:

• GOTHICVISION BROADCAST LINK: www.njcugothicknights.com/GothicVision
• ANNOUNCER: John Kelly Jr.
• 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.  

 
QUICK HITS:

• 2018-19 NJCU Per Game Leaders
  Points:	Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) (16.0)
  Rebounds:	Toney (7.8)
  Assists:	Shaquan Worthy (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) (2.7)
  Minutes:	Toney (26.5)
  3PT Made:	Toney (2.2)
  Steals:	Worthy (2.3)
  Blocks:	Toney (1.2)
  FT Made:	Toney (4.2)

  Wednesday's loss broke a four-game winning streak for NJCU—a streak in which they held opponents to 70.3 points per game (with one game going to overtime). William Paterson's 88 points were a season-high allowed for NJCU, and they were the most points the Knights have allowed under head coach Marc Brown since February 4, 2017 in a 91-88 loss to Rowan University.
• Saturday's matchup with Rowan will feature a pair of teams predicted to finish in the top four in the NJAC this season, based on the preseason poll of the league's head coaches. NJCU collected nine of 10 first place votes, while Rowan finished fourth. So far this season, the Profs have split their two NJAC games, topping Rutgers-Camden 86-75 in Camden, before falling 79-75 in a home game against The College of New Jersey.
• The Profs boast a high-scoring offense this year, outscoring their opponents by an average score of 93.2 to 80.2 in their four wins and one loss so far. The Knights are averaging 78.3 points per game, while allowing 74.2 in their four wins and two losses.
• The Knights are led first and foremost by Toney, who is averaging 16.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season. Maybe the biggest surprise of the 2018-19 season for NJCU has been sophomore transfer, Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/(East Orange Campus), who is averaging 14.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in his 15.3 minutes per game. Banks is the reigning NJAC Player of the Week, despite coming off the bench for the Knights so far this season.
• Jeff Haddock Jr. (12.8 points per game), who ironically transferred to NJCU from Rowan mid-year in 2017-18, provides some nice range for NJCU (11-28 from three this season), and Chika Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter)) (6.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game) brings plenty of strength and size to the post.
• For the Profs, it's an incredibly balanced attack, with seven different players averaging at least 9.0 points per game this season. Nick DePersia (Cherry Hill, N.J.) leads the way for Rowan, averaging 14.4 points per game on 50 percent shooting from three (16-32 on the year). Ramon Wright (Newark, N.J.) does a bit of everything for the Profs, averaging 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game.

 
SERIES:

• This will be the 123rd known meeting. The series is all tied up at 61-61 heading into Saturday.

 
LAST MEETING:

• On February 3, 2018, Rowan pulled out a 67-66 upset, hitting what proved to be a game-winning layup with 7.4 seconds to go.

 
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2018-19 NJAC Statistical Comparison: NJCU vs. Rowan
CATEGORY	NJCU STAT	ROWAN STAT	NJCU RANK (of 10)	ROWAN RANK (of 10)
Scoring Offense	78.3	93.2	4th	1st
Scoring Defense	74.2	80.2	6th	8th
Scoring Margin	+4.2	+13.0	6th	1st
Free Throw Pct	.706	.709	3rd	2nd
Field Goal Pct	.396	.462	8th	2nd
Field Goal Pct Defense	.429	.425	8th	7th
3-Point Field Goal Pct	.295	.355	8th	5th
3-Point Field Goal Pct Defense	.350	.351	5th	6th
Rebounding Offense	41.7	40.6	3rd	4th
Rebounding Defense	37.8	39.8	5th	6th
Rebounding Margin	+3.8	+0.8	5th	6th
Blocked Shots	4.3	3.6	1st	3rd
Assists	11.2	17.2	9th	1st
Steals	12.0	13.8	2nd	1st
Turnover Margin	+5.33	+6.60	2nd	1st
Assist/Turnover Ratio	0.7	1.0	9th	1st
Offensive Rebounds	15.5	12.4	1st	4th
Defensive Rebounds	26.2	28.2	7th	4th
Defensive Rebound Pct	.701	.716	7th	5th
Offensive Rebound Pct	.368	.302	2nd	7th
3-Point Field Goals Made	6.0	8.6	7th	2nd