JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In the 2010-11 New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball preseason poll, New Jersey City University was voted by the coaches as the league's 'Dark Horse' selection. And after a slow start out of the gate, the Gothic Knights proved to be a champion thoroughbred in the final furlongs of a championship season. NJCU, the most storied program in NJAC history, returned to the top of the mountain for the first time in seven years, as the Gothic Knights captured a record 12^th NJAC championship, outlasting Montclair State University, 72-67, in the 2011 NJAC Final, on Friday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on "Coach Charlie Brown Court."

NJCU improves to 19-9 and won for the 12^th time in 13 games and the 16^th time in 19 contests after opening the year, 3-6. With the win, NJCU clinches the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. It will be NJCU's 18^th NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since qualifying in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005. NJCU won irs first conference title since last winning in 2004. Montclair State's season ends with a mark of 20-8.

NJCU will learn where it will begin play in the NCAA Tournament when the 2011 championship field is announced on Monday, February 28 at 1 p.m. on www.NCAA.com.

NJCU, which was playing Montclair for the third time in 11 days, improves to 19-18 all-time in the NJAC Tournament and 16-9 in home tournament games. The Knights are now 7-4 all-time in the NJAC Finals and 6-2 when that final occurs at home. NJCU is 3-1 all-time against MSU in the NJAC Tournament. In a series that began in 1932-33, the Hawks lead, 87-66.

MARC BROWN, who like his legendary father Charles Brown, won his first NJAC championship in his fourth year as head coach of the program, stressed all year that the team was a family, and noted the importance of the team chemistry in the championship.

"Family—that's been a motto of all of my team, but this is the one team that put if all together. This was a team effort all year. These guys finally figured it out in mid-January and we finished up as a family."

"This is a big deal, especially for us to do this on my dad's court. A lot of people didn't believe in us [after the slow start to the season]. I told the guys to stay together. When you play hard and work hard, good things happen."

NJCU trailed for only one possession of the second half after grasping a one-point lead at the intermission. Three players scored in double figures for the Knights and seven netted five or more. NJCU controlled the ball well, committing just nine turnovers in the contest and only one in the second half.

The Knights, the No. 1 ranked team in the NJAC in seven categories, including turnover margin and field goal percentage defense, had a +9 advantage in giveaways and limited Montclair to .396 percent shooting (21-53) and 10-of-33 (.303) in the second half.

NJCU shot 50 percent from three-point range in the game (6-12) and the league's top free throw shooting team hit 26-of-37 from the line (.703), finishing the game at 36.4 percent from the field (20-55).

Junior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) scored a team-high 14 points, including 9-of-10 from the line to help ice the game, adding two assists and two steals in 34 minutes and sophomore small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) tallied 12 points (4-10 FG, 1-1 3FG) with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Senior point guard DA'SHON BARRINO (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) scored 12 points in 18 minutes, knocking down both three-pointers he took and 4-of-6 overall from the field.

Senior guard JAMES LIVINGSTON (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) had six rebounds, five points, five assists and three steals. Sophomore shooting guard ASHMERE WILSON (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) provided seven points and six rebounds, shooting 5-of-6 from the line. Junior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) had six points and five rebounds and senior swingman ROB ROBINSON (Newark, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) chipped in six points, making 2-of-4 from three-point range with two blocks.

For Montclair, senior point guard Rodney Freeney (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway), whose brother Rob Freeney played on NJCU's last NCAA team in 2005, scored a game-best 24 points, making 8-of-15 overall, 4-of-8 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the line. Senior forward Tyrone Prewitt (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) finished with 10 points (4-6 FG), nine rebounds (six defensive) and two blocks before fouling out.

Senior forward Charles Miller (Linden, NJ/Linden) came off the bench to provide nine points (5-6 FT) in 18 minutes before also fouling out. Senior guard Tom Bonard (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) chipped in six points and five assists before fouling out.

One key for NJCU defensively was shutting down Montclair star Andrew August (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan). NJCU limited the First-Team All-NJAC junior forward to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting and four rebounds in 23 minutes before he became one of four Red Hawks to foul out.

"The key for us was our defensive in the second half," Brown noted. "Freeney opened up hot in the second half before we shut him down. In the first half, our guys were nervous and you could tell they were tentative on offensive and defense. If we played better defensively in the first half, we would have had a double-digit lead. But the keys were defense and defensive rebounding in the second half."

In a competitive first half, the lead changed 10 times and there were six ties as the two schools each made at least half their shots. Montclair hit 11-of-20 and shot .550 in the first half and drilled a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range and 8-of-9 from the line. NJCU converted 13-of-26 from the field for a 50 percent rate, and made 4-of-7 from three-point range (.571) and all six free throws.

Freeney hit a pair of early threes to give MSU a 7-6 lead and Bonard hit two triples, helping MSU take a 15-11 cushion. A layup by Livingston tied it at 15-15 before Freeney hit another three. A jumper by Wilson made it 18-17 before Freeney was fouled from three-point territory and hit all three free throws for a 21-17 edge.

Montclair's first 21 points all came in multiple of threes—five three-pointers, a jumper and foul shot for a three-point play, and Freeney's three foul shots.

MSU junior guard Nick Tennant (Atlantic Highlands, NJ/Henry Hudson) scored seven points off the bench and gave the visitors their largest lead of the game with a layup at 8:45, for a 23-17 advantage.

A 9-0 run allowed the Knights to reclaim the lead. Two foul shots by Albright (8:34) and a jumper by rookie guard MICHAEL JOHNSON (Newark, NJ/Irvington) made it 23-21 before Livingston grabbed a defensive rebound and fed Johnson for a game-tying fast-break basket at 7:10. With 5:33 remaining in the half, Albright drilled a three for a 26-23 lead.

MSU counted with a 10-2 run for a 33-28 lead. Freeney and Tennant sank jumpers at 5:17 and 4:31. After Williams sank foul shots to put NJCU ahead, 28-27, Tennant hit a pair from the line and August hit his only shot of the game at 3:45 for a 31-28 edge. Prewitt scored a layup at 2:50 for a 33-28 margin.

The Knights responded with an 8-2 spurt to end the period. Robinson drilled a triple at 2:10 and Barrino buried another three at 1:28 as NJCU moved ahead 34-33. A layup by Williams made it 36-33 before MSU made two foul shots in the final seconds of the half.

Freeney would hit another three 47 seconds into the second half giving MSU a 39-38 lead; it would prove to be the Red Hawks' final lead of the night.

Barrino scored NJCU's first seven points of the second half, including a three, and a fast-break bucket off a Williams steal for a 43-39 edge. Robinson drilled a triple at 16:47 for a 46-41 cushion. Barrino sank two from the line at 1:48 for a 48-43 lead.

MSU would keep it close, aided by Miller. His layup at 13:36 made it 49-47 and he hit two from the line at 11:08 to keep the deficit at two. He later made three more foul shots, including a pair at 9:16 that trimmed NJCU's lead to one, 53-52.

But from there, NJCU began to pull away. A baseline dunk by Abdullah off a feed from Livingston at 9:07 started a 7-1 streak, and a layup by Albright at 7:29 and two Wilson foul shots (6:43) extended NJCU's advantage to seven, 60-53.

In a second half where both teams struggled from the field as defensive efforts improved and nerves increased, MSU shot 30.3 percent but committed nine turnovers. NJCU made 7-of-29 in the period (.241), but sank 20-of-31 from the line, making foul shots when it needed to, while preventing turnovers.

"Obviously turnovers change possessions and that kills you in games like this," Brown said about his club's tremendous ball control in the second half. "We took care of the ball in the second half and at the end, we hit our free throws like we've been doing all year."

After Albright's layup at 7:29, neither team scored a field goal for a span of 3:38, until a layup by Miller cut the Gothic Knight lead to three, 61-58. And NJCU did not hit another field goal the remainder of the game.

But the Knights were solid from the line, drawing fouls and converting their opportunities from the stripe—making 11-of-14 chances in the final 1:44 to seal the win. NJCU didn't score for a stretch of 4:35 until Abdullah sank two foul shots for a 63-58 lead and after Wilson stole the ball from Miller—one of four late turnovers MSU was forced to commit—Williams buried two at the line with 1:06 left for a seven-point, 65-58 cushion.

Freeney made a jumper with 1:01 left. Wilson made one from the line for a 66-60 lead with 49 seconds to go. Montclair still had a chance, but Livingston stole another ball with 38 seconds left, Abdullah was fouled, and when he drained both shots with 35.1 to go, the energy in the arena hit a high, as the Gothic Knights fans began sensing the championship was going to happen.

After an MSU basket, Williams sank two more from the line, and he and Livingston each made a foul shot in the final 15 seconds to again extend the lead to eight. MSU hit a meaningless three at the buzzer, before the overflow crowd rushed the court to celebrate the 12^th conference championship in program history.

"This is unbelievable," a jubilant Brown said. "The funniest part is I told people it would probably take four years to win a championship. That's what I always thought. It takes one year to get your feet wet, a second year to get your coaching staff set, and by the third and fourth years, I was able to get the players and recruit those guys I really wanted. That's what happened and it's an unbelievable feeling."

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