NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University's men's basketball team has its 2016 championship after all. Tournament Most Outstanding Player and junior shooting guard Jalen Harris (Brandywine, MD/Gwynn Park (Md.)) scored 24 points, freshman small forward James Frazier (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) added 21 and the Gothic Knights captured an unprecedented seventh Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro/Upstate championship, charging past Ithaca College, 87-65, in the ECAC Finals on March 6 at The Golden Dome Arena.

FULL STORY: http://njcugothicknights.com/news/2016/3/6/201603-06_MBASKETBALL_vs_Ithaca_ECAC_Finals.aspx

Leading 40-35 at halftime, the Gothic Knights outscored the Bombers 47-30 in the second half and pulled away to capture the program's seven ECAC championship and its first since the 2005-06 season. After notching the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season title before being upset in the league semifinals and missing the NCAA Tournament, the Gothic Knights finish the 2015-16 campaign with a 21-8 ledger and the program's highest victory total since the 2003-04 season.
 
NJCU, the No. 2 seed, improved to 7-3 all-time in the ECAC title game, knocking off an Ithaca (15-13) squad seeded fourth in the field.
 
Harris scored 45 points in NJCU's three-game run to the championship and notched at least 20 points in a game for the 10th time this season. He scored 13 in the first half (5-10 FG) in 15 minutes, knocking down all three three-pointers he attempted, and finished with 24 points (4-10 3FG) with three steals in 33 minutes.

Frazier scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and netted 20 or more points for the third time this season. He shot 7-of-14 from the field (2-6 3FG) in just 20 minutes. Senior small forward Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) added 11 points (5-13 FG) and six rebounds to finish his career with 1,257 points. Freshman small forward James Julius(Linden, NJ/Linden) grabbed a career high 10 rebounds and dished four assists.

Also for NJCU, senior power forward Chinwe Wosu (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) had seven points (3-6 FG) and seven rebounds. In an emotional moment for the entire team, senior shooting guard David Cole (Avenel, NJ/Colonia), who was lost for the year with a career-ending knee injury in the preseason, dressed for the game and entered the contest with 34 seconds remaining. With five seconds left, he stole the ball, dribbled down court, and bombed a three-pointer for his only points of the season on the final shot of his career.

For Ithaca, sophomore guard Marc Chasin (Coral Gables, FL)had 19 points (6-12 FG) in 28 minutes and senior guard Sam Bevan (Strafford, PA)had 18 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting (5-10 FG), five rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. Sophomore guard Carroll Rich (Rockaway, NJ) finished with 11 points (4-5 FG) and four assists. Freshman guard Peter Ezema (New York, NY)totaled 10 rebounds (seven defensive), eight points and five steals.
 
Both teams had near identical shooting percentages but NJCU made 12 more field goals (31-19) and owned a 19-7 margin in offensive rebounding. NJCU committed just 10 turnovers, forced 22 by the Bombers, and turned those giveaways into a 24-4 margin in points off turnovers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• There were five lead changes and three ties in the opening half. NJCU jumped out to an early 9-5 lead. Ithaca scored the next eight points, taking a 13-9 lead with 14:11 left on a Bevanthree. Ithaca led for the next nine-plus minutes, leading by as many as seven, 25-18, with 7:39 to go in the first half.
• NJCU answered with a 16-3 run over the next 3:10. Two baskets by Harris made it a three-point game and the Knights would tie it at 28-28 with 4:40 to play after junior guard Andrew Tomlin (Newark, NJ/Central) made the fourth of four foul shots before a Frazier three gave NJCU a 31-28 lead (4:29). Ithaca twice regained a one-point margin before Harris buried a three with 1:38 to play in the half that gave the Knights back the lead for good (37-34). A three-point play by junior forward Chris Freeman (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic Christian)), who scored six in the game, gave NJCU a 40-35 cushion at halftime.
• A 10-2 run overlapping the end of the first half and early second half allowed NJCU to pull away. An offensive rebound and putback byMuhammad pushed the lead to 10 (47-37) before Frazier knocked down a trey to make it 50-37.
• Ithaca never got closer than nine (51-42) the rest of the way. NJCU countered with a 10-0 spurt—a jumper by Frazier, a steal and fast break byHarris,  and three-point plays by Wosu and Frazier to boost the advantage to 19, 61-42 with 10:42 to go. NJCU cruised from there and the final 22-point margin was NJCU's largest.

Quotable Knights:
 Head Coach Marc Brown, 9th season (136-106), on winning the championship: 
"The title run means a lot. To finish the season on a high note and send our seniors out the right way. Yesterday was an accomplishment—my first 20-win season. Our goal after the NJAC Tournament was to get to 21 wins and we did it in pretty impressive fashion. After the Centenary game our energy wasn't there. But we came with a lot of energy yesterday and today."
 
On the play of Jalen Harris and James Frazier: 
"Jalen has been such a pleasant surprise. Today he made some shots and today Frazier did what I expected him to do. I'm looking forward to coaching them both next year. Today was about sendingChinwe and Khalid off on a good note and the goal of the team was to win this tournament for them."
 
On winning his first ECAC championship:
"It means a lot. I didn't realize we had the most ECAC titles. But to add to that legacy was important to me. In my heart I thought we should have been in the NCAA Tournament. Things didn't work out but this is the next best thing."
 
On how bright the future is for this program:
"The future is bright. We're still recruiting and we lose a pretty big player in Khalid. But we had a really good recruiting class this year and I'm looking forward to the future and coaching some of these younger guys."
 
On "The David Cole Moment":
"That was special and meant a lot to me. The fact he was willing to go out there [in the final moment of the final game] with a torn ACL; his first three try looked real good but didn't go in. His second three was all net. It was the perfect ending for his career. They [the guys] wanted me to put him in yesterday but I thought today would have been a nicer touch and it worked out perfectly. He [David Cole] was a guy who was just unlucky. He caught a real bad break. He's been the epitome of this program. He came in as a freshman, worked really hard to make himself a player, and he'll always be a part of the NJCU family."
 
#KnightNotes:

• NJCU has now won a record seven ECAC Metro championships—1981, 1983, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2006 and 2016
• NJCU's 22-point margin of victory was its largest of its seven titles. Its previous largest margin was a 20-point, 102-82 win over Stony Brook in the March 8, 1981 ECAC title game.
• NJCU and Ithaca all-time series is even, 1-1. Its only other meeting was also on a neutral court on December 9, 2011.
• NJCU was playing its 82nd post-season game in its history while making its 39^th post-season appearance as an NCAA Division III program. Between 21 ECAC and 18 NCAA Tournaments, it owns an all-time post-season ledger of 47-35 (.573).
• NJCU is making its 32nd post-season appearance in 34 years.
• NJCU is making its 21st appearance in the ECAC Tournament. The Knights own an all-time 30-14 (.682) record in 44 tournament games.
• The Knights also qualified for the ECACs in 1976, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
• Khalid Muhammad finished his career with 1,257 career points and placed 16th in school history. Hall-of-Famer Steve Schindler was 15th with 1263 points in three seasons (1970-73).
• Jalen Harris scored in double figures for the 24th time in 28 games as a Gothic Knight and the 15th time in the last 16 games after having his 14-game streak snapped in the semifinals.
• James Frazier scored in double figures for the 10th time in 20 games since joining the team on December 29 and fourth game in a row.
• James Julius' 10 rebounds were three more than his previous high of seven, twice (November 18 at Brooklyn and November 30 vs. York).