JERSEY CITY, N.J. | With the temperature in the negatives outside of Coach Charlie Brown Court, the New Jersey City University (NJCU) men's basketball team kept the fans warm with a convincing, 83-56, win over William Paterson on Saturday afternoon. The win over the Pioneers marks the sixth win in the last seven meetings for the Gothic Knights.
NJCU (13-9, 9-6) shot 41.2% from the field and 33.3% from range, led by Jaydeen Brown's 14 points. The Gothic Knights scored 38 points in the paint and held the Pioneers to just 20. Donovan Crawford (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick), Brince Shelton (Brooklyn, N.Y./George Westinghouse), and Isaiah Green (Orange, N.J./Hillside) all added 11 points each. Travis Pittman (Paterson, N.J./Albany Tech) tied for the team high with seven rebounds.
William Paterson (7-15, 2-13) was led by Jianni Moran, who scored 12 points and grabbed two rebounds. Defensively, Demond Kinchen Jr. paced the way with seven rebounds.
The Gothic Knights came out strong, scoring 9 unanswered points in the opening two minutes. Arterio Williams (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) led the charge, scoring six of the 9 points for NJCU. William Paterson opened its scoring ledger when Moran cashed in on a mid-range jumper to cut the lead down to seven. The Gothic Knights kept their foot on the gas as Pittman pushed NJCU's lead out to 14 from the charity stripe. The Pioneers were quick to respond, which brought NJCU's lead to 10, however, the Gothic Knights' offense got hot as they extended their lead to 21 with 3:15 remaining in the half. NJCU's defense remained stout down the stretch, which allowed them to take a 23-point lead into the break.
The opening chapter of the second half looked similar to the beginning of the game as NJCU picked up where they left off and used a 7-2 run to take a 54-26 lead. William Patersron strung a few series together and cut the lead down to 20, but that was as close as they would get to the Gothic Knights for the remainder of the game. NJCU saw its largest lead of the game after Cameron Diogene (Franklin, N.J./Hunterdon Central) hit a jumper with 2:46 to put the Gothic Knights up 30. With the large lead, the Gothic Knights returned to the win column as they denied any rally by the Pioneers.
Up Next:
NJCU returns to action on Wednesday, February 7, when they take on #3 Montclair State at 7:00 pm.
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