GLASSBORO, N.J. — For the 30th time in the program's existence, which dates all the way back to the early 1930s, a New Jersey City University men's basketball student-athlete has reached the 1,000-career points plateau. Senior tri-captain guard
Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) joined that illustrious group of Gothic Knights with eight points on Wednesday evening, Jan. 5, however NJCU unfortunately fell in a back-and-forth affair on the road against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe Rowan University, 89-84.
It was a game of runs on both ends of the court in South Jersey. The hometown Profs (11-1, 5-1 NJAC) came out of the gates firing and jumped out to an early 18-point, 35-17 lead over Jersey City (6-7, 3-3 NJAC) with 10:14 left in the first half. At that point, the momentum took its first shift of the night as the Gothic Knights grabbed control of the pace of play and whittled it down to a five-point, 47-42 Rowan lead at the half. Sophomore guard
Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy) led JC with 11 points in the first 20 on 5-of-8 shooting.
After senior tri-captain guard
Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) sank a pair of free throws to end the first half, NJCU scored eight straight to start the second and take a three-point, 50-47 lead with 18:34 remaining to cap off a 10-0 run, including threes from junior guard
Derryen Whyte (Irvington, N.J./Union) and Battle, sandwiched around a block on one end and a layup underneath on the other end from sophomore forward
Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) — he continues to lead the NJAC with 3.1 blocks per game.
A couple of minutes later, Banks completed his historic transaction. He first pulled down the defensive board at 16:57 to being the NJCU possession. Then, after a miss in the lane from Whyte, Banks grabbed the offensive rebound and put it right back up for a good lay-in of his own at 16:42 to get to 1,001 points for his career.
The two teams traded buckets for the next few minutes before Rowan again seized momentum back and eventually jumped out to a nine-point, 73-64 lead with 10:06 remaining in the game. However, as things went tonight, the Gothic Knights once again turned on the fire to the tune of a 19-2 run as they took a six-point, 82-76 lead with just 3:50 to go. Trailing by nine, they chipped away before freshman forward
Corey Manning-Floyd (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) drilled a three with 6:23 remaining to knot it up at 76-76. NJCU continued to apply the pressure and the run was capped off thanks to a jumper from freshman center and California native
Ben Todd (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real). The 6-foot-10 California native made his Gothic Knight debut on Wednesday after transferring in from Westcliff University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program based in Irvine, Calif.
With 2:35 remaining in regulation, Jersey City clung to a four-point, 84-80 lead over the Profs and looked to hold on for the victory. However, Rowan notched a steal at 2:16 and a fastbreak layup at 2:11 to cut it to two. Then another steal at 2:02 resulted in a NJCU foul and the Profs sank both foul shots to tie it up at 84-84. The home team missed a few free throws down the stretch, but the Gothic Knights were unable to capitalize in their offensive possessions and ultimately fell by five to Rowan. 89-84.
Highlights:
- Wilson finished the night with a team-high 17 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Savoy was right behind him with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out a career-best five assists and blocked a game-high four shots to go with three steals.
- Battle and Whyte both ended their nights with 11 points apiece. Battle dished out a season- and game-best six assists to go with a game-high-tying four steals, also a season-best. Whyte grabbed a career- and team-high eight rebounds.
- Todd saw 24 minutes off the bench in his NJCU debut, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, a block and a steal.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 8, for a NJAC clash with Ramapo College. The two teams did not meet last season, as the Roadrunners opted out, however Jersey City won the most recent matchup back on Feb. 19, 2020, at the JMAC and has taken four of the last six meetings overall.
If you plan on attending the matchup between the Gothic Knights and Roadrunners on Saturday, a reminder that all spectators are required to show proof of vaccination and matching identification at the door. Please refer to our updated spectator policy (njcugothicknights.com/spectators) for our full guidelines.
