JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior shooting guard Denzel Banks hit an off-balance, fall-away jumper at the buzzer off a feed from freshman guard Hakeem Wilson as the New Jersey City University men's basketball team outlasted Stockton University, 67-65, in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on February 13 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
With 5.9 seconds remaining and the game knotted at 65-65, NJCU (3-1, 3-1 NJAC) forced a shot-clock violation on the Ospreys (1-3, 1-3 NJAC), called timeout, and set up the winning play. Wilson received the inbounds pass from Banks, dribbled up the left-center of the court and on a misdirection, Banks snuck up the right sideline after trailing the play, caught a pass from Wilson, and hit the winning shot a few strides inside the three-point line before being mobbed in a dogpile.
Stockton led 65-61 after a 13-2 run saw the Ospreys recover from a 59-52 deficit with 6:11 remaining. Stockton sophomore guard DJ Campbell's 20th point with 1:19 remaining, made it a two-possession game. Wilson hit a short jumper with 1:00 left to cut the deficit in half and after junior wing Kayton Darley forced a steal with 36.6 seconds left and was fouled, he went to the line in a 1-and-1 scenario and calmly sank both chances to tie the game, leading up to the final sequences, including Stockton's back-to-back turnovers on their final two possessions.
Wilson led NJCU with 16 points (6-13 FG), three assists and three steals and Banks, who saw limited action in the first half under foul trouble, shot 6-of-8 from the floor for 12 points, five rebounds, and the timeless memory. Junior guard Keshon Smith added 10 points, six rebounds, four blocks and three assists. Darley (nine points, six rebounds) and senior forward Jahmere Calhoun (seven points, seven rebounds) also factored in.
Campbell shot just 6-of-15 overall but was 5-of-10 from three-point distance, adding five assists. Sophomore guard Rynell Lawrence finished with 13 points (7-7 FT) and eight rebounds. Junior guard Kyion Flanders, a First-Team All-NJAC pick last year, was limited to 2-of-11 shooting (nine points, six steals, four assists).
A night after Stockton defeated NJCU in Galloway, N.J. in the opener of the two-day home-and-home series, 85-73, senior guard Luciano Lubrano, who scored 23 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting, was limited to only six points on four shots before fouling out in 13 minutes.
"It's a good team win," said 14th year head coach Marc Brown. "I'd much rather be 3-1 than 2-2 so I am really pleased. [The winning shot] was just a misdirection play. It was up to Hakeem and Denzel to make the right read. They did. Denzel's shot for me, and I've been telling him this since he's been here, is the pull-up jumper from the right side. That's the shot he makes most consistently. He's always settling for threes and I tell him all the time you're a mid-range shooter. Today he listened. Instead of a three, he took the run-dribble to the right, shot a pull-up and it went in. It was a hard-fought game. We came out with a lot more energy than we did last night"
NJCU jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first half and held margins of 11-3 and 17-9, before Stockton tied it at 19-19. NJCU worked the score back to 26-21 and clutched a one-point, 33-32 edge at the half. Stockton gained its first lead in the first minute of the second half before Smith scored the next five for a 40-34 lead. Stockton again worked its way back into the game and twice led by three before NJCU tied it. A Campbell three made it 52-49 before the Knights answered with a 10-0 outburst, seizing the 59-52 advantage after Calhoun sank back-to-back pull-up jumpers. Campbell tied it at 61-61 when he connected on a three with 2:43 to go.
NOTABLES:
- Series: 90th meeting. NJCU leads the all-time series, 52-38.
- Denzel Banks scored 12 points for the fourth consecutive game to open the season and netted double figures for the 38th time in 60 career games.
UP NEXT:
- The next scheduled game for NJCU in this abbreviated COVID-19 impacted season is Friday, February 19 at 5 p.m. when the Knights are slated to face William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. at 5 p.m.
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