ANNVILLE, Pa. — The New Jersey City University men's basketball team opened up play for the 2022-23 season tonight, Friday, Nov. 11, in the first round of the Rinso Marquette Invitational, hosted by Lebanon Valley College. The Gothic Knights led by as many as five near the midway point of the second half, but unfortunately fell to Neumann University by a final score of 66-64. NJCU will face off with Delaware Valley University tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, Nov. 12, at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game.
Returning starters and senior co-captains point guard
Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) and forward
Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) each got the nod in game one for Jersey City (0-1), along with senior guard
Keshon Smith (Queens, N.Y./Martin Van Buren), junior forward
Avante Gilbert (Paterson, N.J./International) and senior forward
Yvens Monfleury (Newark, N.J./American History). Darley poured in a team-high-tying 15 points against Neumann (1-1), while junior forward
Jacob Valeus (Pleasantville, N.J./Pleasantville) came off the bench for 21 minutes of play in his NCAA debut and also dropped 15 points for the Gothic Knights.
Things started off well in the early-going for NJCU, as the squad kicked it off with a 7-3 run to force a timeout by the Knights. However, Neumann came out of the break and took control of the tight contest and led by as many as seven points on several occasions in the first half, including as late as 5:08 remaining with the score at 28-21 in favor of the the Knights. Jersey City was able to whittle that lead down to one at 34-33 with under a minute left until the half, but a late lay-in by Neumann put NJCU behind by three after 20 minutes of play. Darley had a team-high-tying nine points in the first half as he was 3-of-4 from long range, while Valeus was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and also had nine.
The first seven minutes of the second half belonged to the Green and Gold as the squad doubled up Neumann with a 16-8 run, which ended on a Darley three at the 13:20 mark to put NJCU up by five at 49-44. However, a 14-2 run to answer swapped momentum back over to the Knights, who now led by seven at 58-51 with 6:51 remaining and then against at 60-53 with 5:45 left. A quick 8-3 run by Jersey City, including four points from Smith, trimmed the deficit down to two points at 63-61 with just 42 second left. Neumann drained a three with 18 seconds left to go up by five and NJCU unfortunately could not answer, although Smith did nail a three at the buzzer to make it a two-point game at 66-64, which was the final.
Up Next:
As mentioned, the Gothic Knights return to action in Annville against Delaware Valley for a 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon tipoff.
