Saturday, December 18, 2010 (Men's Basketball)

ALVERNIA SCORES 13 OF FINAL 15 POINTS, EDGES NEW JERSEY CITY, 65-63

READING, PA (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Yet again for the New Jersey City University men's basketball team, a double-figure second half lead resulted in a disappointing, narrow defeat. The Gothic Knights led by as many as 19 points with 14:43 remaining and 61-52 with 5:03 to play before Alvernia University scored 13 of the final 15 points to stun NJCU, 65-63, in a non-conference game on Friday night at the Physical Education Center.

In a season of close but no cigar for a team selected as the Dark Horse in the New Jersey Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, NJCU (3-6) suffers another frustrating, two-point setback to head into the holiday break. The Knights' three wins this year have been by a combined 112 points but its six losses by just 17. Three of the six losses have been by two points and none by more than four.

Alvernia (6-2) missed its first 13 three-point attempts before connecting on six of its final 12 to spur the third comeback of 17 or more against the Knights this season. It was the first-ever meeting between NJCU and the Crusaders.

The Knights received a balanced scoring effort as six players tallied six or more points. Junior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) had a team-high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 2-of-3 three-point accuracy, with two assists. Sophomore guard ASHMERE WILSON (East Orange, NJ/Weequahic) had eight points (4-7 FG) and six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Sophomore forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) finished with eight points (3-4 FG) while senior swingman ROB ROBINSON (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) scored all seven of his points in the first half (3-7 FG, 1-5 3FG), adding seven rebounds. Junior center JOSH HOSANG (Hackensack, NJ/Palm Beach Central (Fla.)) collected seven points and five rebounds.

Alvernia was led by senior swingman Charles Swiggett (Chester, Pa.), who finished with a game-high 22 points (7-17 FG, 3-11 3FG), while adding six rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Junior center Cory Boone (Howard, Pa.) registered a double-double with 14 points (6-9 FG) and 11 rebounds (eight rebounds). Senior guard Seth Cornell (Millersville, Pa.) finished with 12 points and four assists.

The Crusaders shot 50 percent in the second half (15-30) after making just 8-of-25 (.320) in the opening stanza. Alvernia, whose only lead in the second half came in the final 47 seconds, had not been in front since a 17-14 edge with 9:26 left in the opening period.

Trailing by three at that point in the first half, the Knights scored 18 of the final 21 points of the period to head to the locker room ahead by a dozen, 32-20. Junior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) put NJCU ahead 19-17, before buckets by Wilson (7:02), Robinson (4:13) and Hosang (3:03) helped the Knights build a 25-18 advantage. Abdullah had a tip-in off an offensive board for a 27-18 margin as the NJCU run reached 13-1. Williams buried a three with 1:16 left in the half before Abdullah's layup with 34 seconds to play gave him his sixth point of the spurt for the visitors.

Out of the intermission, NJCU extended the run to 23-5 after a three-point play by Johnson and a Williams layup and baskets by Hosang (16:56) and senior shooting guard DA'SHON BARRINO (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz), put the guests ahead 41-24—as the scoring barrage reached a 27-7 differential over a span of 12:45 between two periods. A fast-break jumper in the lane by Wilson after a missed three-point shot by Swiggett with 14:43 to go gave the Knights its largest lead of the night—a 19-point, 47-28 cushion.

But the Crusaders began to chip away at the lead as its perimeter shooting caught fire. A triple by Cornell at 11:42 cut it to 52-40 before Swiggett sank back-to-back threes in a span of 26 seconds as the hosts trimmed NJCU's lead to 10, 56-46, with 9:22 to go. Swiggett scored his eighth straight point when he turned a steal into a fast break dunk and a Boone fast break layup off another Swiggett swipe with 7:47 to go cut the NJCU head to six, 56-50.

With 6:46 left, Williams hit a jumper for NJCU and the Knights pushed the lead back to nine with 5:03 to play when Hosang was fouled and converted a three-point chance.

But NJCU would score just two points the remainder of the contest and only got three shots off until the finals seconds.  

Freshman forward William Harmon (Wilmington, DE) hit a three with 4:48 to go. After NJCU turned it over, Swiggett made a foul shot and with 3:59 left, Boone sank two from the line as Alvernia sliced the lead to 61-58. The Knights again committed a giveaway with 3:55 on the board and Swiggett made the front end of two foul shots. With 2:47 remaining, senior guard JAMES LIVINGSTON (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) scored NJCU's last points of the game when he completed a layup for a 63-59 lead. But he missed a free throw chance as the Knights could not convert three separate foul shot opportunities in the final three minutes, including a pair of one-and-ones.

Swiggett trimmed the lead to 63-61 with two foul shots with 2:13 remaining. Livingston and junior center DASHAWN EAGLE (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) missed free throws at 2:03 and 1:52 but Williams gave NJCU a much-needed break when he swiped the ball from Swiggett with 1:34 on the board. After a timeout, NJCU ran the clock down to 1:07, leading by two, but Hosang was unable to convert a layup and with 47 seconds left, Swiggett's three-pointer from the top of the arc completed the comeback as the Crusaders moved ahead by one, 64-63.

Eagle missed a contested jumper with 30 seconds to play but the Knights still had life after Cornell hit one free throw for a 65-63 lead but missed the backend of the two shots with 12 seconds standing. NJCU called timeout to set up a play with eight seconds left but Williams could not connect on what would have been a game-winning three at the buzzer, a 24-foot shot that glanced off the rim. In all, Alvernia outscored NJCU, 37-16, while mounting the full comeback.

NJCU is inactive for the next 19 days before a non-conference game on a neutral court against St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 2:30 p.m.

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