Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The storyline was simple: New Jersey City University had to win on Senior Night or its 2019-20 season was over. Time for the next chapter. With its backs against the wall in a see-saw battle, the Gothic Knights got key baskets in the final two minutes from junior power forward Jahmere Calhoun (Manchester, NJ/Brick Memorial) and senior small forward Jaimik Moore (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) and timely defensive rebounding to hold off Ramapo College, 81-78, on February 19 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). NJCU clinched its seventh consecutive NJAC Tournament berth with the outcome.
 
With Rowan  and Montclair State both winning in early games, NJCU (13-12, 10-8 NJAC) had to win or face elimination but rallied from eight points down in the middle of the half. Ramapo, which will be the No. 3 seed, fell to 15-10 and 11-7 in the NJAC.
 
NJCU, which swept Rowan in the regular season, used that tiebreaker to claim the No. 5 seed in the NJAC Tournament and will face No. 4 seeded Rutgers-Newark in the NJAC Quarterfinals on Saturday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Newark.
 
Moore scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and finished with five assists and three steals to lead four Gothic Knights in double figures on a night where all three seniors had big efforts. He collected his third double-double of the season. Junior shooting guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) poured in 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including two big shots in the final three minutes to give NJCU back a narrow lead after the Roadrunners had gone ahead.
 
Two-time NJAC Player of the Year and two-time All-American senior power forward Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) contributed 12 points on just 11 shots (5-11 FG), adding seven rebounds and two blocks. Senior guard Jeff Haddock, Jr. buried four threes in the first half, finishing with 12 points (4-8 FG, 4-7 3FG). Calhoun added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and five boards and junior point guard Tarique Holmes (Jersey City, NJ/Bayonne) had six rebounds, five assists and five points.
 

Junior guard Marquise Kindel (East Orange, N.J.) scored a game-high 25 for Ramapo, shooting 10-of-14 with eight rebounds. Senior forward Jordan Zagadou (Newark, N.J.) finished with 15 points (6-10 FG), six boards and two blocks. Senior forward Travis Bennett (Garfield, N.J.) had 10 points while senior guard Rob McWilliams tallied nine points and three assists but was 3-of-12 shooting.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• NJCU jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the opening half when Haddock drilled an NBA range three and 9-4 as Holmes went around a screen for a driving layup. Ramapo rallied to tie it at 11 and the two sides played tight basketball, resulting in a 22-21 lead for Ramapo with 8:57 left.
• NJCU scored the next seven points and Haddock hit two three pointers during a 10-2 spurt that saw the Knights grab a 31-24 edge with 6:41 to go. Ramapo drew within three (35-32) before Haddock hit a three and an NJCU steal by Calhoun led to a jumper and three-point play by Holmes for a 41-32 cushion. Ramapo scored the final six points of the half and NJCU led 43-40 at the break.
• Down 45-40, Ramapo used an 8-0 run to take the lead before Toney drilled a three to tie it. The teams played back and forth before Ramapo seized a 60-52 margin with 11:53 to go, using a 20-9 run to start the half. 
• The comeback began off an offensive rebound by Toney, who found Banks In the right corner to cut it to 62-57 and Ramapo traveled with 8:58 remaining. After RCNJ went up by seven, Toney buried an NBA-range straight-away triple to cut it to 64-60 with 7:57 left and Moore converted a half-court fast break pass from Holmes to make it 64-62 with 7:28 remaining.
• Moore sank two foul shots with 6:23 to go and a turn-around mid-range jumper my Calhoun off a Moore steal, gave NJCU a 67-66 lead. Zagadou put Ramapo back in front before Toney answered with a fall-away jumper from 10 feet to regain the lead, 69-68.
• After Ramapo twice to regain the lead (3:23, McWilliams jumper; 2:30, Kindel layup), Banks twice hit off-balance jumpers to put NJCU back on top by one—the second with 2:25 remaining. Kindel scored his 25th point on a wide-open layup with 2:07 left to reclaim a 76-75 lead.
• With 1:51 to go, Calhoun hit a long jumper to put NJCU back in front. Moore and Toney grabbed key defensive rebounds on the next two Ramapo possessions. The second board by Toney with 40 seconds left set up a key bucket for NJCU. He fed Holmes who found a streaking Moore in transition to push the lead to 79-76. McWilliams made two foul shots with 10.3 seconds left before Banks answered with 7.6 to go and the Knights sealed the win with a final defensive stand that forced a bad three-point shot and a last second desperation shot off an inbounds with 0.4 to go.

 
NOTABLES:

• Series: 98th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 70-28.
• Prior to the game, NJCU honored Jeff Haddock, Jaimik Moore (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) and Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) on Senior Day 2020.
• Sam Toney (Plainfield, NJ/Williamstown) is in fourth place in school history in scoring with 1,746 points. 
• Toney has an NJCU record 229 career three pointers.
• Toney scored in double figures for the 88th time in 109 career games. 
• Jaimik Moore (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) scored in double figures for the 14th time in 19 games and had 20+ points for the fourth time. It was his third effort of 10+ rebounds.
• Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) scored in double figures for the 17th time this season and for the 31st time in 53 career games.
• Haddock scored a season-high 12 points. He scored in double figures for the second time this season and the 12th time in two and a half seasons as a Gothic Knight.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• NJCU tangles with Rutgers-Newark in the NJAC Quarterfinals on February 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Golden Dome in Newark. It will be the 89th meeting between the sides and NJCU leads all-time, 68-20, but Newark swept the season series, winning on December 14 in Newark (71-46) and on February 1 in Jersey City (69-57). It will be only the second meeting between the schools in the NJAC Tournament and the first at The Golden Dome; NJCU downed the Scarlet Raiders, 79-69, on February 21, 2007.

 
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