JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In what has become a repetitive scenario for theNew Jersey City University men's basketball team in the second half of the season, the Gothic Knights led William Paterson University midway through the period before succumbing to another lengthy scoring drought at the most inopportune of times, as NJCU dropped a 69-59 decision to WP in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on February 8 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
Leading 48-47 with 10:01 remaining, NJCU would not score for another 6:26—until a layup with 3:35 left stopped the bleeding of a 9-2 Pioneer run during which the Knights shot 1-of-10 from the field. During that spurt, WP shot just 2-of-8 from the floor but converted five straight free throws, which is where the visitors secured the game, shooting 27-of-40 on the day (.675), including 18-of-26 in the second half (.692).
The loss marks the second four-game losing streak suffered by NJCU this season after starting the year 5-0, and dips the Knights' record below .500 at 10-11, 6-9 NJAC.
WP clinches no worse than a home game in the NJAC Quarterfinals, improving to 17-5 (11-4 NJAC)—one game shy of first-place Rutgers-Newark and even with Richard Stockton College.
Furthermore, the NJCU loss created a four-team logjam in the race for the final two seeds in the six-team NJAC Tournament Field. The Knights are even with Rowan University (11-11), Montclair State University (9-12) and Ramapo College (9-13) with three conference games to go—at Montclair (February 12), vs. The College of New Jersey (7-14, 5-9 NJAC) and at Rutgers-Camden on February 19 (4-17, 2-12 NJAC).
However NJCU does have many tiebreakers working to its advantage despite its lackluster play of late. NJCU swept the season series from Ramapo, split with Rowan and defeated Montclair in the first meeting, giving the Knights a 4-1 ledger against the three schools it's deadlocked with.
The loss spoiled a career-high equaling 21-point performance from senior small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter), who moved into 23rd place in program history in scoring with 1,058 points.
NJCU's top three scorers—Albright, sophomore shooting guard KHALID MUHAMMAD (Orange, NJ/Orange) and junior point guard JOURDAN ROBERSON (Brooklyn, NY/University (Newark))—all fouled out.
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