NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University senior small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) became the 27th man in the illustrious 81-year history of NJCU men's basketball to score 1,000 career points when he knocked down a free throw early in the second half. But the Gothic Knights struggled from the line and three-point range and failed to capitalize on several chances to knock off first-place Rutgers-Newark, falling 51-49 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup at The Golden Dome on January 29.
NJCU (10-8, 6-6 NJAC) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before moving in front in the second period after an 11-0 run. After Rutgers-Newark (14-5, 10-2 NJAC) regained the lead, NJCU had two chances to tie or win in the final 25 seconds, but turned the ball over with 4.0 seconds remaining before a potential winning three at the buzzer was long.
|
Team Stat Comparison |
||
|
|
NJCU |
R-N |
|
Score |
49 |
51 |
|
Half Time Score |
27 |
34 |
|
Field Goal Percentage |
.315 (17-54) |
.395 (17-43) |
|
Three-Point Percentage |
.182 (4-22) |
.429 (6-14) |
|
Free Throw Percentage |
.478 (11-23) |
.688 (11-16) |
|
Rebounds (O-D-T) |
14-24-38 |
6-25-31 |
|
Assists |
9 |
8 |
|
Turnovers |
13 |
18 |
|
Blocks |
5 |
2 |
|
Steals |
7 |
2 |
|
Fouls |
18 |
21 |
|
Largest Lead |
4 |
11 |
|
Points in the Paint |
22 |
16 |
|
Points off Turnovers |
20 |
17 |
|
Second Change Points |
15 |
3 |
|
Fast Break Points |
2 |
2 |
|
Bench Points |
10 |
11 |
The win was the eighth consecutive for the Scarlet Raiders who are a half game in front of Richard Stockton in the standings entering the final month of the regular season.
In the 75th meeting between the schools in a series NJCU has dominated historically, the Knights had a 15-3 differential in second chance scoring, based on a 14-6 margin in offensive rebounding, but couldn't find a way to prevail.
Albright, who missed all of the 2012-13 season with a broken jaw, cemented his legacy in NJCU basketball history by becoming the first Gothic Knight since former All-American Dana John in 2008 to join the 1,000-point club. Albrightentered the day needing eight points to reach the milestone and scored seven in the first half before finishing with game highs of 18 points (6-11 FG) and nine rebounds in 35 minutes. He scored NJCU's final seven points in the closing five minutes and had 11 in the second half.
He could have easily scored much more, but shot just 6-of-15 from the foul line—the only black mark on an otherwise memorable evening—and the missed free throws proved critical in a two-point loss. The rest of the team went to the line just eight times, making 5-of-8.
NJCU shot 4-of-22 from three-point range in the loss (.182)—1-for-12 in the second half (.083) and struggled to find other scoring sources.
READ MORE: http://njcugothicknights.com/news/2014/1/30/01-29-14_MBASKETBALL_vs_Rutgers-Newark.aspx