Montclair, NJ – Senior forward Walik Albright (Jersey City, NJ / Create Charter) scored 19 points and added nine rebounds leading five players in double figures as New Jersey City University picked up a key victory in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament race with an 80-68 win over Montclair State on Wednesday evening.
NJCU (12-11) gave head coach Marc Brown his 100th career victory and perhaps equally important a that gave the Gothic Knights as leg up in the race for the final two conference tournament spots. New Jersey City sits at 7-9 tied with Rowan for the fifth and sixth positions, both teams one game ahead of Ramapo, MSU and The College of New Jersey with two league contests to be played.
Meanwhile the loss was a tough one for Montclair State (9-13, 6-10 NJAC), which is not only a game back in the race but is now on the wrong side of the tiebreaker with NJCU should it come down to that as the Red Hawks also fell to the Gothic Knights 76-60 on January 8.
Senior forward Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ / Warren Hills) finished with a game-high 24 points for the Red Hawks, who got a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds from Chris Torres (Oakland, NJ / Indian Hills). Senior Daniel Singleton (Neptune, NJ / Neptune) chipped in with 16 points.
Montclair State led early and was tied at 12-12 on Torres' jumper with 13:39 left before NJCU embarked on an eight-point run to take control. Jahmill Jenkins (Elizabeth, NJ / Elizabeth) buried back-to-back three-pointers with Eddie Brown (Newark, NJ / Newark East Side) getting a layup for a 20-12 lead with 11:37 left. MSU cut the lead back to five but NJCU responded with a 13-5 run capped off by a three from Jourdan Roberson (Brooklyn, NY / University (Newark)) lengthening the Gothic Knight lead to 33-20 with 4:46 to go in the first half.
NJCU would take a 37-28 lead into the break.
In the second half, Montclair State would chip away at the lead getting within 5-6 points on several occasions only to see the Gothic Knights come up with a basket that prevented MSU from getting any closer.
Goldson hit a jumper with 14:38 left making the score 44-39 however Jenkins connected from behind the arc on the next trip down the floor to boost the lead back to eight points. Less than a minute later Goldson three-point play brought MSU within 47-42 but Khalid Crawford-Muhammad (Plainfield, NJ / Plainfield) hit a free throw and then converted a three-point play off his second miss that pushed the NJCU lead to 51-42.
Singleton scored on a layup with 7:09 left making the score 61-56 NJCU before Drew Marley (Maplewood, NJ / Columbia) countered with a layup. A jumper by MSU's James D'Angelo (Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central) with 4:17 left pulled the Red Hawks to 65-59 but Albright scored in the paint and Jamall McDaniel (Jersey City, NJ / Lincoln) shot two from the line extending the Gothic Knights' lead to 69-59.
Muhammad finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks while Jenkins also had 12 points. McDaniel and Roberson had 10 apiece for NJCU, which shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the floor for the game, including 55 percent (15-of-27) in the second half.
D'Angelo had six points, four rebounds and three assists for the Red Hawks.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday, February 15 with home NJAC contests. MSU will host Kean at 1:00 pm on Senior Day Meanwhile NJCU face The College of New Jersey at 7:00 pm.