JERSEY CITY, N.J. — In a game that seemed to drag slowly along for the New Jersey City University men's basketball team throughout the first half, the second was polar opposite as the Gothic Knights stormed back from a historic 21-point deficit with 14:36 remaining to win it in dramatic fashion when junior Kayton Darley (West New York, N.J./North Bergen) drained a three as time expired for the buzzer-beating 79-77 victory. And with that, NJCU has earned the title of 2020-21 New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament champions, as the second-seeded Gothic Knights defeated No. 5 seed Stockton by two at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center tonight, Friday, March 19.

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NJCU (7-1, 5-1 NJAC) entered the night playing in its 14th NJAC championship game, including the 11th on the Gothic Knights' home floor. The win is their first NJAC title since 2011 when they defeated Montclair State University at home 72-67. Tonight, however, Jersey City was up against a tough Osprey (5-4, 3-3 NJAC) squad that had previously dealt the Gothic Knights their only loss of the season. The last time these two teams met, it was a similar ending as senior Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) won it with a buzzer-beater to give NJCU the the 67-65 win at the JMAC on Feb. 13. The win is the eighth conference tournament championship and 13th NJAC title overall.
 

As for the game, both teams started off cold with neither side making a basket until the 17:23 mark when freshman Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy) drained a jumper to make it 2-0. Sophomore Michael Clement (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) followed that up with a lay-in to make it 4-0 en route to the Gothic Knights actually taking an early six-point lead at 11-5 with 14:10 remaining in the first half. However, Stockton blew the doors open next with a 21-0 run to take a 15-point, 26-11 lead with 9:19 left on the clock. The Ospreys were able to stretch that advantage out to as many as 19 points in the half before NJCU was able to trim the deficit down to 14 as time expired and the teams went in to the lockerrooms for halftime.

Stockton was able to regroup at the break and in the start of the second half, jumped out to a commanding 21-point lead on three separate occasions, with the last one coming with 14:36 remaining on the clock leading 61-40. But that was the beginning of the end of the Ospreys as the Gothic Knights proceeded to outscore the lower-seeded visitors 39-16 for the duration of the championship battle.

With just under three minutes to play, Stockton drained a three-pointer that seemingly took away all hope for NJCU to come back and win it, taking a 75-66 lead, but a 13-2 run, capped by Darley's buzzer-beater, told a completely different story. First, rookie Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) grabbed a defensive board and hit Wilson with the outlet pass and the latter was able to sink the fastbreak bucket, trimming it down to 75-68 with 2:15 left.

After a timeout for NJCU, sophomore Derryen Whyte (Irvington, N.J./Union) was fouled on his way to the basket and then hit both his free throws to cut it to 75-70 with 1:58 remaining. Wilson was next for NJCU, as the rookie was fouled in the act and proceeded to sink both his shots from the foul line to make it 75-72 with 1:08 left. After a Stockton lay-in made it 77-72, Banks immediately followed with a fastbreak layup on the ensuing possession — it was now 77-74 with under a minute left. With 00:22 remaining, Wilson was fouled again on his way up and sank both free throws to make it 77-76.

With 0:13 remaining, Stockton had a chance still to ice the game, but was not able to hit either free throw opportunity following a foul on Savoy. Banks immediately snagged the defensive board and a timeout was called. Head coach Marc Brown drew up the perfect play and, after a couple cycle passes around the three-point line, Darley was wide open for the game-winner — which he sank — and pandemonium ensued.

Highlights:
- Whyte and Darley each finished with a team-high 17 points. Whyte was 5-for-8 from the field, was Darley was 4-for-9. Darley was also 7-of-8 from the foul line.
- Banks chipped in 12 points, while Clement contributed a career-high-tying 10. Banks also led all players with a game-high nine rebounds.
- Wilson finished with eight points, four rebounds, two blocks and a game-high four steals. He was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.