JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University entered Wednesday night's rematch with Montclair State University in control of its own destiny, and the Gothic Knights kept the late-season magic going—and now sit one win away from clinching a New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament berth. Five-time NJAC Rookie of the Week KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) exceeded 20 points for the fourth time this season and senior forward JOSH CAVER(Trenton, NJ/Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.)'s heroics continued as he amassed a career scoring high as NJCU defeated Montclair, 72-60, in NJAC men's basketball action on February 6 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
NJCU (12-11, 7-9 NJAC) moved above .500 for the first time since the opening game of the season and captured its fifth consecutive victory while improving to 8-2 overall in its last 10 contests.
Since opening the season with a school-record worst 0-7 league mark, NJCU is 7-2 in its last nine conference games. Coupled with Richard Stockton College's 60-45 win over Rutgers University-Camden (and William Paterson University's 53-46 decision at Kean), NJCU now holds a one-game lead over Camden (6-10) in the league standings with two games remaining.
If NJCU defeats The College of New Jersey in its final road game on Saturday, February 9 (3 p.m. at Ewing, NJ), the Gothic Knights will clinch the final NJAC Tournament berth, regardless of what Rutgers-Camden does in its home game against William Paterson, due to tiebreakers. Montclair (7-16, 3-13 NJAC) is eliminated from NJAC Tournament contention with the loss—its third straight.
Muhammad scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half—producing half of NJCU's points in the period—before finishing 9-of-16 overall from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point distance, and 2-for-2 from the line, with six rebounds and three steals. Muhammad reached double figures in the points column for the 19th time this year and led the club in scoring for a 17th time as he was one point shy of his career high.
READ MORE: http://www.njcugothicknights.com/news/2013/2/6/02-06-13_MBASKETBALL_NJCU_vs_Montclair_State.aspx