WAYNE, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University trailed William Paterson University midway through the second half before catching fire, shooting 58.1 percent in the second half to roar past the Pioneers, 74-61, in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on January 29 at the William Paterson Rec Center.
 
NJCU trailed 47-41 with 11:23 to play before using a 15-5 run to grab a 56-52 lead with 6:08 remaining and that outburst reached 31-10 before the Gothic Knight lead had hit 15 points. NJCU won its fourth consecutive game, improving to 10-9 overall and 7-5 in the NJAC—good for a four-way tie for third place with Ramapo, Rutgers-Newark and Montclair State. William Paterson, which won the first meeting this season on December 4, 89-71, fell two games back in the standings (9-10, 5-7 NJAC) with six games remaining.
 
Two-time NJAC Player of the Year and two-time All-American senior power forward Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown), the NJAC Player of the Week, shot 7-of-12 and scored 17 points with four rebounds to pace the Knights and junior shooting guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) tallied 15 points, six rebounds and four steals.
 
Junior point guard Tarique Holmes (Jersey City, NJ/Bayonne) also scored 15, shooting 4-of-8 from the field with a pair of threes and junior power forward Jahmere Calhoun (Manchester, NJ/Brick Memorial) shot 5-of-10 to finish with 10 points.
 
NJCU forced 30 Pioneer turnovers and turned that into a 28-9 margin in points off giveaways.
 
Senior forward Sean Smith (Moraga, Calif.) again paced the Pioneers, finishing with a game-high 24 points, including 6-of-12 three-point success and junior guard Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J.) added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Nasir Fields (Winslow Township, N.J.) had 10 points and eight boards.
 
WP led 29-25 at the half before NJCU outscored the Pioneers 49-32 in the second period, shooting 18-of-31 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point land.
 
Down 47-41, sophomore guard Kayton Darley (West New York, NJ/North Bergen) drilled a three (11:12), Toney sank a jumper (10:02) and Calhoun hit a jumper with 9:28 left to cut the deficit to one, before senior guard Jeff Haddock, Jr. turned a steal into a layup to put NJCU in front by one. Smith answered with a three for WP (52-50) before Haddock tied it from the line with 8:36 to go. A layup by Calhoun put NJCU in front for good.
 
Leading 56-54 with 5:51 left, NJCU unleashed a 12-1 run to put the game away. Holmes started it with a layup and Toney drilled a three with 4:44 to go for a seven-point edge (61-54). A Banks steal and layup and a Holmes trey extended the lead to 66-55 before a Holmes jumper with 2:45 left increased the cushion to 68-55.
 
NOTABLES:

• Series: 156th known meeting between these historic rivals. NJCU currently leads the series, 84-72.
• Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) is in fifth place in school history in scoring with 1,647 points. He is 59 points shy of matching Hall-of-Famer Steve Wilder who scored 1,706 points from 1982-86.

• 

  Toney has an NJCU record 216 career three pointers.
• Toney scored in double figures for the 82nd time in 103 career games. 
• Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and for the 27th time in 47 career games..
• Jahmere Calhoun (Manchester, NJ/Brick Memorial) scored in double figures for the fourth game in a row and the sixth time this season.
• Tarique Holmes (Jersey City, NJ/Bayonne) scored in double figures for the fourth time in his first season at NJCU.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• On Alumni Day 2020, NJCU hosts Rutgers-Newark on Saturday, February 1 at 5 p.m. at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). The men's alumni game will be played at 12:30 p.m. In the first meeting this season on December 14 in Newark, N.J., the Scarlet Raiders surprised NJCU, 71-46. It will be the 88th meeting in a series NJCU leads, 68-19.

 
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