MONTCLAIR, N.J. – After building up a lead early in the first half, the New Jersey City University men's basketball team eventually went to overtime in the squad's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener on Tuesday night, Nov. 21, on the road against #RV Montclair State University. Trailing by six with three seconds to go in regulation, NJCU had a de ja vu moment –
recalling last year's #1 play on Sportscenter – hitting back-to-back threes, including one at the buzzer, to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, though the Gothic Knights had a very quality look as time expired in the extra period, it was the Red Hawks that staved off the comeback for the 83-82 win over NJCU.
As mentioned, the Gothic Knights (1-3, 0-1 NJAC) started off the night quickly and jumped out to a 12-3 lead with 13:25 left in the first half against Montclair (3-1, 1-0 NJAC). Senior forward
Avante Gilbert (Paterson, N.J./International) and junior big man
Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) each had a couple of buckets over that stretch. However, the Red Hawks slowly inched their way back into the game and, before you knew it, took a nine-point lead of their own at 37-29 with 45 seconds to go until halftime. NJCU did cut it back down to six before the end of the first.
Still trailing by nine at 44-35 with 17:58 to go in the second half, the Gothic Knights swung momentum back in their own favor to the tune of a 15-2 run to take a four-point, 50-46 lead with 11:32 to go in regulation. Junior guard
Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy) started it off with a three-point play at the 17:35 mark. After a free throw from senior guard
Will Brown III (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic), Wilson sank a jumper at 15:23 before Savoy capitalized on a block from Brown III, converting the fastbreak bucket on the other end to cut it to one – he made the free throw after drawing a foul on the play, as well, tying it up at 44-44 with 14:25 to go. Graduate student forward
Daniel Rodriguez (Newark, N.J./Hudson Catholic) sank a bucket to tie it back up at 46-46 before Savoy put NJCU up against at 48-46. Gilbert closed out the run with a bucket at 11:32 to put his team up by four.
The teams traded buckets for the next 10 minutes before Montclair used a quick 7-2 run to go up by seven at 70-63 with just 1:34 remaining in the second half. NJCU cut it back down to two at 72-70 with only 31 seconds to go, but the Red Hawks again went up by two possessions at 76-70 with only 13 left. Finally, with just over eight seconds on the clock, the Gothic Knights inbounded the ball. After a missed three-point attempt by Wilson, Savoy got the rebound and sank a three to make it 76-73 with three seconds to go. Then, on the ensuing Montclair inbounds play, freshman guard
Julian Caldejon (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) forced a turnover to give his team one last chance with barely over a second left on the clock. Wilson had the ball in his hands for the inbounds and Brown III was sprung open thanks to a nice pick set by Gilbert. The Hudson Catholic Regional product banked in the three-point buzzer-beater to force overtime.
Once in overtime, the teams again went back and forth. In fact, Savoy sank a bucket underneath with 55 seconds to go before Gilbert drained a pair from the foul line with only 10 seconds remaining to put NJCU up by one at 82-81. However, a late foul gave the Red Hawks a pair of free throws, which they converted on to take an 83-82 lead with only eight seconds to go. With time expiring, Brown III had one final look in the paint, but was unable to convert for the win.
Highlights:
- Savoy finished with a game-high and career-best 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go with a game-best 10 boards, two assists, two steals and a block. His game-high 41 minutes on the floor were also a career-high.
- Brown III was right behind him with 20 points, adding seven boards, two blocks and an assist.
- Gilbert and Rodriguez each finished with 12 points, while Wilson had 10, along with a game-best four assists.
- Four of the last six meetings between NJCU and Montclair have been decided by five points or less.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights now take some time off for the Thanksgiving Holiday before returning to action on the road for a non-conference clash with Farmingdale State College on Monday evening, Nov. 27, at 6:00 p.m. NJCU has defeated the Rams in six straight meetings.
