Monday, January 24, 2011 (Men's Basketball)

BARRINO'S 22 LIFTS NJCU TO CRUCIAL NJAC WIN; KNIGHTS SAIL PAST DEFENDING NJAC CHAMPION PIONEERS, 59-49

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University played its first must-win game of the season, and did just that as senior shooting guard DA'SHON BARRINO (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) netted 22 points and the Gothic Knights limited defending New Jersey Athletic Conference champion William Paterson University to just 15 points in the first half before cruising to a critical 59-49 victory in a make-up NJAC game on Monday evening at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on "Coach Charlie Brown Court."

NJCU snaps a two-game conference skid and evens its record at 8-8 overall and 3-4 in the league. WPU, which was held without a field goal for the final 11:42 of the first half, falls to 11-7 and 3-4 in the NJAC—its third loss in a row. NJCU snaps a six-game losing streak to the Pioneers, winning for the first time since a 71-60 win in Wayne, NJ on February 7, 2007. NJCU leads the series, which dates to 1931-32, by a 74-61 margin.

Had NJCU lost the game, the Pioneers would have been 4-3 in the NJAC—two games ahead of the Knights (2-5). Instead, with six games remaining in the conference schedule, NJCU, WPU and Rutgers-Newark (3-4) are all in contention for the third place position in the NJAC North Division, with the top three from each division qualifying for the conference tournament.

Barrino collected his second 20-point effort of the season, shooting 6-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point territory, and he buried all eight free throws he attempted while adding three assists.

Junior center JOSH HOSANG (Hackensack, NJ/Palm Beach Central (Fla.)) registered his first career double-double, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting (5-7 FT) and 11 rebounds.

WPU senior guard Gabriel Paul (Newark, NJ/Hillside) scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, scoring nearly half of the Pioneer total for the game. He shot 8-of-19 from the field and was 7-for-7 from the line with seven rebounds and two steals to increase his career scoring total to 950 points.

But no other Pioneer scored more than eight points as WPU shot just 28.6 percent overall (14-49) and had only two assists on the night—three less than its previous season low of five and the fewest in at least 10 years. On December 10, 2003, the Pioneers had three assists against Kean University.

Junior point guard Joey Castro (West Paterson, NJ/Passaic Valley Regional) was held without an assist. The Pioneers barely extended their now 193 consecutive game streak with at least one three-point made, shooting 1-of-10.

NJCU, which led 28-15 at the half and by as many as 24 points with 8:47 remaining in regulation, received eight points (3-5 FG) and three steals from sophomore guard ASHMERE WILSON (Newark, NJ/Weequahic). Junior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) finished with eight points while senior forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) provided six boards and three steals. 

"Every victory is key now," acknowledged fourth-year head coach MARC BROWN. "We held them to 18 percent in the first half, which was to our advantage because we didn't play great. But we sustained that second half lead and that's one thing we have not done well this year. We never really lost control of the game, even when Paul got hot late."

While NJCU didn't have a terrific shooting night against a Pioneer defense that is ranked No. 3 in the country in field goal percentage defense coming in (.381), the Knights returned the favor by neutralizing the visitors starting point guard.

"Joey Castro is an excellent point guard and tonight I kept our quickest point guards—Keith Williams and Mike Johnson on him—we didn't switch. We knew Paul was going to shoot a lot but one player is not going to beat us. We kept Castro out of rhythm. He's a real good player and that was a key for us."

NJCU never trailed, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. NJCU, which also had 11 of the first 13 rebounds of the contest, claimed an 11-2 lead when Barrino split two defenders and caromed a shot off the glass before slashing to the hole for a 13-4 edge.

After the Pioneers scored with 11:42 left in the period, they did not score another field goal (0-9) the remainder of the period as NJCU exploded for a 13-0 run to seize a commanding 26-6 lead with 3:36 on the clock. A three-point play by Wilson made it 18-6 with 7:01 left in the period before Barrino slashed to the hole for two more and Wilson buried a jumper at 5:08 for a 22-6 cushion. Free throws by Barrino made it 24-6 and a jumper by rookie guard MICHAEL JOHNSON (Newark, NJ/Irvington) added the 26^th point. The Pioneers hit nine free throws in the final 3:21 of the half to trim the 20 point lead to 13 at the half.

Paul scored the first two baskets of the second half to make it a nine-point game (28-19) but the Pioneers never could draw within single digits again as the Knights scored 10 of the next 12 points for a 38-21 lead with 13:52 to go. Sophomore forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) had an offensive rebound and putback and Barrino fed Williams for a 34-19 lead. Barrino sank his eighth free throw for a 36-21 lead (14:13). The Pioneers were in foul trouble all night and NJCU was in the double bonus from the 13:57 mark on.

With 13:20 remaining, a driving basket and subsequent free throw by Wilson made it 41-23 and Barrino elevated the lead to 22 when he drilled a three for his 22^nd point of the game at 10:07 moments after he hit a jumper off the window. Hosang, who had an offensive board and putback at 9:19 for a 22-point lead, hit a pair of free throws at 8:47, making it 52-28. With 8:08 remaining, Hosang sank two more freebies for NJCU's second 24-point lead of the contest, 54-30. With the game well in-hand at that point, WPU managed to score 19 of the final 24 points of the game—including 14 by Paul who at one juncture netted nine straight points for his club.

NJCU, which held WPU below .300 shooting for the second game in a row and only the second time this season, also limited the Pioneers to just one three-pointer—its lowest total of the season.. NJCU had a 28-14 margin in points in the paint, 10-0 on the fast break and 21-7 off turnovers.

NJCU will next host Montclair State University in an NJAC North game on Wednesday, January 26 at 8 p.m. WPU visits #20 ranked Ramapo College in an NJAC game that night at 7:30 p.m. in Mahwah, NJ.

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