NEWARK, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Tied at 57-57 with under a minute remaining in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Rutgers-Newark senior guard Chase Barneys (Woodbridge, N.J.) hit a runner with 32.2 seconds to go and Rutgers-Newark iced it from the line after New Jersey City University couldn't convert inside as the No. 4 seeded Scarlet Raiders eliminated No. 5 NJCU, 61-57, on February 22.
NJCU (13-13) will see its streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances snapped at three straight (2017, 2018, 2019) and will now await a potential bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Tournament or have its season end.
Rutgers-Newark (15-11), moves on to face top-seeded TCNJ in the NJAC Semifinals on February 26. Newark defeated NJCU three times in the same season for the first time. NJCU never led in the game.
Barneys scored a game-high 22 points, shooting 6-of-12 overall and 9-of-11 from the line; all six of his missed shots were three-point tries. He added six rebounds.
Junior shooting guard Denzel Banks scored 19 on 8-of-16 shooting, including two key baskets down the stretch that drew NJCU to within two points, then moments later tied the game at 57-57. He had seven rebounds and three steals before fouling out.
Senior small forward Jaimik Moore had 11 points (3-6 FG, 4-4 FT) and seven boards before fouling out. Two-time NJAC Player of the Year and two-time All-American senior power forward Sam Toney had nine points on an off shooting night, adding five boards. He exceeded 1,750 career points in the loss.
Junior guard Quincy Rutherford (Kearny, N.J.) scored 15 for the Raiders (4-8 FG, 4-4 FT), knocking down 3-of-4 three-point shots. Sophomore forward Jamir Patterson (Mullica Hill, N.J.) finished with eight points and seven caroms.
Newark went 22-of-25 (88.0 percent) at the line to overcome being outrebounded on the offensive glass, 13-3. NJCU held advantages in second chance scoring (12-2), fast break points (11-4) and points off turnovers (22-12) but couldn't find a way to win.
The Raiders led 28-20 at the end of a first half in which NJCU shot just 24.1 percent (7-29) as Newark hit half of its attempts (12-24). Leading 18-13, Newark put together a 10-0 run over a span of 4:17 to build a 15-point, 28-13 advantage. Rutherford hit two three pointers during that outburst and NJCU went a stretch of 5:45 without a field goal. NJCU scored the final seven points in the final 2:00 of the first half to cut the deficit almost in half.
Newark continued to lead by multiple possessions for the first 11 minutes of the second half before NJCU put together a 7-0 run to tie the game at 42-42; a three by junior point guard Tarique Holmes and a fast break bucket by Banks highlighted the spurt.
Barneys hit a three as R-N scored the next five to regain the lead. Each time NJCU tried to countered, Newark would answer in a see-saw ending to the game and when Newark hit its 10th straight foul shot with 2:24 remaining, the hosts clutched a 57-53 lead.
NJCU responded. Toney grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Banks who hit a pull-up jumper along the right baseline and a steal by junior power forward Jahmere Calhoun led to a fast break layup by Banks to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:34 to play.
Newark missed its next shot. NJCU had a chance to take the lead but a good-looking three-pointer by Toney rimmed out and with 32.2 remaining, Barneys hit a runner off the window to put Newark back in front. When a driving layup by Banks refused to fall with 12 seconds left, the Knights had to foul and Patterson sank both opportunities—the 11th and 12th in a row to end the game for R-N—to ice it with 9.5 on the clock.
NOTABLES:
- Series: 89th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 68-21. Newark won all three meetings and swept the season series, winning on December 14 in Newark (71-46) and on February 1 in Jersey City (69-57).
- It was only the second meeting between the schools in the NJAC Tournament and the first at The Golden Dome; NJCU downed the Scarlet Raiders, 79-69, on February 21, 2007.
- Sam Toney is in fourth place in school history in scoring with 1,755 points.
- Toney has an NJCU record 230 career three pointers.
- Denzel Banks scored in double figures for the 18th time this season and for the 32nd time in 54 career games.
- Jaimik Moore scored in double figures for the 15th time in 20 games.
UP NEXT:
- The 16-team ECAC Division III Tournament will be announced on Monday, March 2. If NJCU does not qualify, its season will end.
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