NEW YORK, N.Y.— The John Jay men's basketball team was defeated at home, losing a close one to New Jersey City University (NJCU) 65-62 in a non-conference game at the Doghouse on Monday evening.
 
The Bloodhounds were led by Isaiah Holman with 23 points. He was the lone John Jay player to score in double figures. Korede Griffith had a great all-around game with eight points, nine assists, two blocks and two steals, while Oshea Alexander had 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
 
NJCU was led by Khalid Muhammad with 16 points, while Dakwan Simmons and Asmer Edwards added 10 each.
 
The Bloodhounds got off to a nice start taking a 17-10 lead just under eight minutes into the contest, before the visiting Gothic Knights scampered off nine straight points to take their first lead of the night as NJCU led 19-17 with 11:44 to play.
 
With the game tied 21-21, the Gothic Knights raced off four straight points to take what proved to be the lead for good.
 
With NJCU leading 27-25 with just under six minutes remaining, the Gothic Knights scored nine unanswered points to take a double-digit lead of 36-25 with 3:06 to play.
 
NJCU still led by double-digits at halftime as the Gothic Knights were up 40-30.
 
The Bloodhounds stayed within striking range early in the second half, and with John Jay trailing by nine, a lay-up by Holman, followed by a three pointer, got John Jay to within four.  After NJCU retook an eight point lead, John Jay rallied again and got the lead to two, behind a 9-3 run that brought NJCU's 53-45 lead to 56-54. Gary Brady capped the run after back-to-back three point field goals.
 
Moments later the Bloodhounds pulled to within one after a three pointer by Holman with 5:18 to play as the Gothic Knights were up 58-57.
 
Each time NJCU upped the lead, the Bloodhounds countered. Three times in the final five minutes John Jay got its deficit to within a point. The most recent one came with 2:39 to play after a triple by Michael Howard.
 
But the final two plus minutes saw NJCU outscore John Jay 2-0 behind two foul shots in the waning moments.
 
A final attempt by John Jay at the buzzer fell short as the Gothic Knights escaped with the win.
 
The bigger NJCU dominated inside and outscored John Jay 42-14 on points in the paint, including 30-6 in the first half and 12-8 in the second. NJCU also held a 20-7 advantage on points off turnovers and 24-12 on second chance points.
 
John Jay returns to action on Wed. Jan. 16 for a home contest against defending conference champion College of Staten Island at 7 p.m.