JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Three days after Rutgers University-Camden shocked first-place Montclair State by double figures on the road, the New Jersey City University men's basketball team used its transition game to make sure they wouldn't be surprised. NJCU forced 19 first-half turnovers and used a 28-5 margin in points off those giveaways to build a commanding 50-25 halftime lead, cruising past RUC, 83-66, in New Jersey Athletic Conference on January 18 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
NJCU (7-9, 4-5 NJAC) got a win it had to have in a see-saw season. It forced 23 turnovers and had a final 30-12 margin in points off those mistakes. But the damage was largely done in the first 20 minutes of the game and the Scarlet Raptors (5-10, 2-7 NJAC) had no answer. NJCU outrebounded RUC, 43-24, including a substantial 18-5 on the offensive glass.
NJCU had a pair of players generate double-doubles, led by junior shooting guard Denzel Banks who finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. He scored 11 of his 15 in the first half. Junior power forward Jahmere Calhoun had his second double-double of the season, finishing with an NJCU career-best 14 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting in his third start of the year.
Senior small forward Jaimik Moore and two-time NJAC Player of the Year and two-time All-American senior power forward Sam Toney both came off the bench to provide a spark.
Moore finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 6-of-6 foul shooting with four steals in just 19 minutes of action and Toney moved into sixth place in school history with 1,590 points in the 100th game of his storied Gothic Knight career. He tallied 13 points and blocked two shots. The duo were responsible for much of NJCU's 39-5 margin in bench scoring.
Junior point guard Tarique Holmes handed out five assists and had three steals. Sophomore shooting guard Kayton Darley got the starting nod and scored all 10 of his points in a strong first half.
Camden was paced by junior guard Arian Azemi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, finishing with eight rebounds but seven turnovers. He shot 4-of-8 from three-point distance. Senior forward Isaac Destin (Woodlynne, N.J.) added 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting before fouling out.
NJCU had more than twice the shot attempts in the first half that Camden did—36-17. The Knights were again electric from the line, shooting 16-of-18 in the first half (88.9 percent) and 24-of-29 for the game (.828).
Down 4-3, NJCU rattled off a 9-0 run over nearly three minutes to pull in front 12-4. Firmly in front at 17-9, the Knights reeled off another run of 11-0 over more than three and a half minutes and built a 28-9 advantage. Calhoun and senior shooting guard Jeff Haddock, Jr. accounted for nine of the 11 points including a fast-break two-handed slam by Calhoun. The Knights were never challenged again.
NOTABLES:
- Series: 71st meeting in a series NJCU has dominated, 66-5. NJCU has won 28 of the last 29 meetings and 56 of the last 58 matchups.
- Jaimik Moore scored in double figures for the ninth time in 10 games after missing six games between November 19 and December 17. It was his seventh straight double-digit scoring effort.
- Sam Toney moves into sixth place in school history with 1,590 points, passing Eric Moore with 1,587 points (1976-80). Toney scored in double figures for the 79th time in 100 career games. He needs 11 points to pass NJCU Hall-of-Famer Mark Washington (2002-06, 1600 points) to climb into the Top 5 in school history.
- Toney has 206 career three pointers and is four shy of becoming NJCU's all-time leader. Former All-American Dana John owns the record with 209 career threes (209-580, .360) from 2005-08.
- Denzel Banks scored in double figures for the 11th time this season and for the 25th time in 44 career games. He notched his third double-double since transferring to NJCU last year and his first this season. It was also his third career double-digit rebounding effort.
- Jahmere Calhoun scored in double figures for the third time; it was his first double-double since December 4 in a loss to William Paterson.
- Kayton Darley scored in double figures for the fourth time in his first season in an NJCU uniform.
UP NEXT:
- NJCU heads to Union, N.J. to square off with Kean University on Wednesday, January 23. That NJAC action tips off at 8 p.m. NJCU defeated the Cougars 84-55 in that contest.
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