Monday, December 13, 2010 (Men's Basketball)

RPI RALLIES LATE TO EDGE NJCU, 69-67; KNIGHTS LOSE FOR FIFTH TIME BY FOUR OR LESS

ALBANY, NY (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's steal and fast-break layup with 23 seconds remaining completed a late comeback in a see-saw neutral court battle as the Engineers outlasted New Jersey City University, 69-67, at the Times Union Center on Monday night. It was the opening game of a doubleheader hosted by Siena College, which retired the No. 4 jersey of NJCU head coach MARC BROWN, considered that school's greatest player of all-time, in a half time ceremony during the nightcap.

NJCU, which led by seven points at three junctures of the second half, was rewarded for its tenacity on the offensive glass all night and the Gothic Knights held a 21-4 margin in second chance points, but NJCU committed four turnovers in the final 3:14 of action —three while it still led the game. The Knights committed 13 turnovers in the second half.

NJCU (3-5) has its two-game winning streak snapped and still has not won a close game this season. The Knights five losses have been by a combined 15 points—include two two-point setbacks. RPI improves to 6-2 overall. It was the first meeting between the schools. There were eight ties and seven lead changes in the contest.

The Engineers had averaged 90.0 points per game prior to the contest and were held to its lowest scoring total of the season, but managed to keep the game close with its three-point shooting, knocking down 7-for-17 from long range (.412).

RPI, which shot 50 percent from the field (23-46), connected on 60 percent of its second half chances (15-25), including 6-of-11 from three-point distance. RPI received a 45-point contribution from its bench in the win.

"This is the most disappointing loss of the season," Brown declared. "Once again, making mistakes at the end of a game that are clearly mental errors—it's tough to swallow. We're 3-5 and clearly could be 8-0. A lot of coaches say that but we mean it. We took control of a game and let it slip away once again."

Junior center JOSH HOSANG (Hackensack, NJ/Palm Beach Central (Fla.)) led all scorers and rebounders for NJCU with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and seven rebounds—five offensively. Junior center DASHAWN EAGLE (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) added 10 points for NJCU (5-13 FG), with two blocks. Sophomore forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) added eight points (4-7 FG).

Four NJCU players added six points each in a balanced offensive output during which 11 players scored. Junior KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) collected six points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals and senior swingman ROB ROBINSON (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) finished with six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Three players reached double figures for the Engineers, led by junior guard Matthew Pooley (Middletown, NY), who scored 13 points with three assists and three steals in 19 minutes off the bench. He was a flawless 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. Senior guard DJ Blakemore (Bloomfield Township, MI) added 12 points and four rebounds and senior guard Travis Jones (East Greenbush, NY) finished with 10 points (3-8 FG), and made two three pointers (2-6).

Senior guard Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, VA), who manufactured the steal and go-ahead basket in the final moments, finished with nine points (2-3 FG, 5-7 FT). Sophomore forward Daniel Martin (Cohasset, MA) collected eight points (3-5 FG) and six defensive rebounds. Freshman guard Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, NY) had eight points, making both three pointers he attempted (3-6 FG).

NJCU scored the first eight points of the game and 10 of the first 12 as its full court press confused the Engineers in the opening four minutes of the game. A 12-2, 10-point lead was its largest of the game and RPI answered by scoring 13 consecutive points, capped by a Gibbons triple and a Martin dunk with 10:56 to go in the period. The clubs continued to play a back-and-forth style contest. NJCU regained a six-point, 29-23 cushion with 1:48 left in the period before Bull, who made three foul shots in the final 38 seconds, helped RPI cut that deficit in half as NJCU led 31-28 at the intermission.

Out of the break, NJCU scored two quick buckets by Eagle and Robinson for a 35-28 lead before Jones hit triples (18:34 and 16:52) and added a layup with 16:18 to go as the Engineers reeled off an 11-2 run to regain a 39-37 edge, It would be RPI's final lead in the game until the final moments.

While NJCU was able to build several two or three possession leads, RPI kept hitting shots to stay in contention. NJCU held a 48-41 cushion before a three by Pooley cut it to 48-46. Gibbons sank another trey with 8:58 to go before sophomore point guard NAADIR WILLIAMS (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) buried NJCU's only three in the game and Hosang converted a field goal for a 56-49 lead with 8:20 left. Pooley countered by scoring four of the next six for RPI, including a steal and fast-break layup with 7:01 remaining as the NJCU advantage slipped to one, 56-55.

A basket by Johnson and a jumper by junior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) extended the lead to 60-55. Blakemore sank a three before Abdullah answered with another shot and the Knight grasped a 62-58 lead with 4:10 to go.

But NJCU committed three key turnovers in a 41-second window and Gibbons followed up his own steal by putting back the offensive rebound of a transition miss by Martin, cutting NJCU's lead to 62-61. Hosang made the back end of two foul shots with 1:52 to play before Martin tied it with a layup with 1:17 left. Hosang put NJCU back on top with 55 seconds left (65-63) but Pooley drew a defensive foul and tied the game for an eighth time with 48 seconds on the clock, sinking two from the line.

After an NJCU timeout, the Knights had the ball with a chance to regain the lead while running the clock down. But with 27 seconds remaining, Bull stepped in front of Keith Williams' pass at the foul line and sprinted down the court for the go-ahead basket and sank a foul shot for a 68-65 lead and a three-point play. After NJCU missed an inside shot with 14 seconds left, Blakemore was fouled and hit one free throw for a 69-65 margin—its largest of the game. RPI had outscored the Knights by a 14-5 count for a 4:32 stretch until Hosang's third chance layup at the end trimmed the Engineer lead to 69-67 with 0.8 seconds to play—not enough time for NJCU to force a tie.

The Knights are back on the court on Friday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. in non-conference action in Reading, PA when NJCU visits Alvernia University.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—