JERSEY CITY, N.J. | The New Jersey City University (NJCU) men's basketball team suffered its third consecutive loss, 67-33, to Kean University on Saturday afternoon at the John J. Moore Athletics & Fitness Center.
NJCU (12-8, 8-5) was held to 33 points in the loss, their lowest output in the modern era since their 1941-42 matchup against Montclair, where they tallied 29 points. On the court, NJCU was led by Bakhi Rogers-Robinson (Orange, N.J./West Caldwell Tech), who led the team with 9 points. Defensively, Donovan Crawford (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) pulled down a team-high six rebounds while adding three points. Isaiah Green (Orange, N.J./Hillside) finished second on the team with five points, going 1-for-1 from three-point range.
Kean (10-10, 7-6) was led by Braelen Crump's 23 points while Christian Garcia grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Kareem Irby and Daniel Dextraze scored 17 and 14, respectively.
Raymond Ezike (Newark, N.J./Westside) put NJCU ahead early, 7-6, thanks to a wide-open layup from Brince Shelton (Brooklyn, N.Y./George Westinghouse). The Cougars would quickly regain the lead and push their lead out to four. Kean held the Gothic Knights at bay for the remainder of the half as NJCU struggled to find it offense, scoring just 18 first-half points. The Cougars eventually extended their lead to 10 before the buzzer as Crump diced his way to the basket for a last-second layup.
The Gothic Knights couldn't unlock Kean's defense as they came out of the break and tallied just 15 second-half points as Kean exploded for 39. NJCU's scoring drought lasted 10 minutes and was eventually broken by Rogers-Robinson with 14:34 remaining with a three-point bucket. Green slashed his way to the basket to tally another pair as it looked like NJCU's offense began to gain steam. His scoring streak didn't end with the layup as he tallied a three-point basket to bring NJCU within 14 of the Cougars. Kean's offense got hot and pushed its lead out to 26 behind a three-point basket by Irby with 8:08 remaining. Down 26, the Gothic Knights were unable to muster up a rally to close the gap as they drop a crucial NJAC contest.
Up Next:
NJCU returns to action on Wednesday, when they travel south to Galloway, NJ for a showdown against Stockton University at 7:30 pm.
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