JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University opened the second half on a decisive 25-5 run and men's basketball coach Marc Brown moved within one win of 200 for his career as the Gothic Knights opened New Jersey Athletic Conference play with a lopsided 84-55 victory over Kean University on November 26 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). NJCU buried 7-of-10 three-point shots in the second half.
Junior shooting guard Denzel Banks scored 12 of his game-high 20 points during the 25-5 run to help NJCU win its third consecutive game, improving to 3-1 (1-0). Senior center Quadri Moore scored all 13 of his points in the first half to help NJCU vault out to a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Moore scored 10 in a row for NJCU during a 12-2 first half run. Kean fell to 1-3 (0-1 NJAC) with the loss.
Banks scored 20 for the second outing in as row, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line. He finished with a +/- ratio of 29, adding six rebounds and four assists. He was the only player who saw more than 20 minutes of action (27:16) as the Knights had all 14 healthy players see action with 11 scoring. Junior point guard Tarique Holmes had a stellar line with nine assists and just one turnover while grabbing seven rebounds.
Senior power forward and First-Team All-American Sam Toney buried 4-of-8 three-point shots and finished with 16 points, four rebounds and two steals in just 16:59 of action and Moore had his 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting (4-4 FT) with seven rebounds and two assists in 13:47 of court time.
Sophomore shooting guard Kayton Darley added nine points in 12 minutes off the bench (4-7 FG) and exciting junior power forward Jahmere Calhoun added eight points (4-7 FG) with three steals.
Based on the strength of its three-point shooting in the second half, NJCU shot 11-of-24 from long range (45.8 percent) after making just 4-of-14 in the first 20 minutes. NJCU made 30-of-66 total shots in the game while limiting Kean to just 20-of-58 (34.5 percent).
The Cougars had 10 different players score but none reached double figures. Sophomore point guard Jailen Jamison (Bronx, N.Y.), the 2018-19 NJAC Rookie of the Year, had the best effort for Kean with six points, seven fouls drawn and four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kean jumped out to a 6-2 lead after a pair of threes before Toney's triple and later two foul shots put NJCU on top (7-6).
- A triple by Darley from the right arc (11-6, 13:23) after great NJCU ball movement around the perimeter and a turn-around hook shot by Calhoun pushed it to 13-8.
- A three from the left corner from senior shooting guard Jeff Haddock, Jr. made it 19-12 but Kean answered with a three from freshman guard Jaedan Sheehan (Bordentown, N.J.). Moore drilled a long three for NJCU to make it 24-17.
- Moore drove the baseline and hit a nifty reverse layup (6:13) for his 10th point and sank the foul shot to push the lead to 29-17. Banks' inside feed to Moore for a layup made it 31-19 and NJCU led 35-27 at the break.
- NJCU began to pull away in the first 2:18 of the second half, jumping out to a 16-point lead (48-32), on a fastbreak layup by Banks off a pass by Holmes, threading the needle down court off a rebound. A three-point play by Holmes and layup by Toney opened the run. Banks 12 points during the opening streak included two layups and a three-pointer and his jumper elevated the lead to 50-32.
- After a triple from Toney bounced in to make it a 55-32 game, a fast-break one-handed throwdown dunk by Calhoun ignited the home crowd even more and made the lead 25 (57-32) before a trey from Toney with 14:46 left ended the first run with NJCU leading by 28 (60-32).
- NJCU led by as many as 34 on three different instances in the second half, the final being 84-50 with 1:48 to go when freshman shooting guard Nizair Scott buried a three-pointer for his first collegiate points.
NOTABLES:
- Series: 141st known meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 104-37, and has won the last 11 meetings.
- NJCU received 14 points in the Week 1 D3hoops.com Top 25 national poll, equivalent to a No. 35 national ranking.
- Banks scored in double figures for the 17th time in 32 career games and netted his sixth 20-point effort. His career high is 26 points vs. Montclair State on January 30, 2019.
- Sam Toney upped his career scoring totals to 1,428 points. He needs 30 more points to pass Hall-of-Famer and assistant coach Abdul Madison (1,457 points, 1993-97) for the Top 10 in school history. Toney scored in double figures for the 68th time in 88 career games.
- Quadri Moore, the former Division I product for the Cincinnati Bearcats, reached double figures for the first time in an NJCU uniform.
UP NEXT:
- After the Thanksgiving break, NJCU will try to give 13th-year head coach Marc Brown his milestone 200th career win when it hosts Colby College in non-conference action. Colby, members of the NESCAC, are 5-0 on the year and averaging 98.8 points per game. The Mules, based out of Waterville, Maine, received eight points in the D3hoops.com Top 25, equivalent to a No. 40 national ranking. The schools have never met in men's basketball.
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