UNION, N.J. – Picking up where they left off the night before, the New Jersey City University men's basketball team completed the sweep of Kean University on the afternoon of Saturday Feb. 6, winning 70-60.
Similar to last night, the Gothic Knights (2-0, 2-0 New Jersey Athletic Conference) came out firing, taking a 5-0 lead in just over one minute of play off the strength of senior
Jahmere Calhoun's (Manchester, NJ/Brick Memorial) jumper and sophomore
Derryen Whyte's (Irvington, N.J./Union) three-pointer. Kean (0-2, 0-2 NJAC) battled back to take its first lead of the day at the 15:04 mark, but the Knights' bench kept them in the fight, accounting for 25 of the team's 41 first-half points. NJCU took the lead for good on junior
Kayton Darley's (West New York, N.J./North Bergen) three ball with 6:37 remaining in the first frame, eventually taking a seven-point advantage into the locker room at the break.
Although a far tighter contest than their first tilt with the Cougars the previous night, the Gothic Knights opened things up in the second half, amassing a game-high 17-point lead at the 7:08 mark. The Knights took advantage of every chance, scoring 37 points off turnovers to Kean's 21. Sophomore
Michael Clement (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) had a shining defensive day, cleaning up eight defensive boards and tallying two blocks in the win. Senior
Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) led the Knights with 12 points, closely followed by Darley with 10.
Highlights:
- The Knights again spread out the playing time, with 10 players racking up double-digit minutes on the court.
- Freshman Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) continued his efficient shooting from the field, tacking on a three-for-three effort onto his four-for-five performance from last night against Kean.
- The Knights outperformed the Cougars at the charity stripe, shooting 73.9 percent to Kean's 60 percent.
- Clement led all players in rebounds for the second straight game.
NJCU returns to action next Friday, Feb. 12
th for another NJAC showdown at Stockton University in Galloway Township, N.J.. As with all games this season, there will be no fans allowed. Catch all the action between the Gothic Knights and Ospreys on https://stocktonathletics.com/coverage.
