WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The New Jersey City University men's basketball team, ranked #24 in the preseason d3hoops.com poll, entered Sunday afternoon, Nov. 7, in search of its first victory of the season following a tough opening-round loss on Saturday, Nov. 6, in the first round of the USJ Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by #9 University of Saint Joseph (Conn.). The Gothic Knights did just that in today's consolation match-up as they trashed the University of Maine at Augusta 77-39. NJCU was led by junior Kayton Darley's (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) game-high 11 points as the forward was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Jersey City (1-1) was dominant all game long and shot 42.5 percent from the floor. The squad clamped down on the defensive end as well, holding the Moose (0-3) to just 25.9 percent shooting and did not allow anyone to score more than seven points. Joining Darley as the only other player to score in double figures was sophomore guard Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy), who came off the bench and scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting over 17 minutes on the court. Overall, 16 players saw action for the Gothic Knights, with 11 playing at least 10 minutes and 13 scoring at least three points.

As a team, NJCU forced Maine-Augusta into 31 turnovers, notching 17 steals — including four from rookie guard Zaire Jefferson (Newark, N.J./Payne Tech) and three from senior captain guard Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) — which resulted in 31 points. Additionally (and along with the on-ball defense) the Gothic Knights scored 20 points on the break and did not allow the Moose to score a single point in transition. Jersey City also dominated down low and held a 42-20 advantage in points in the paint.

Up Next:
With the bounce-back victory, the Gothic Knights are now back to .500 for the season and take a week to head back to the drawing board before opening up play at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) for the season when Farmingdale State College travels to the West Side all the way from Long Island on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 13. NJCU and the Rams are scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off and you can follow all the action live on GothicVision.

Highlights:
- Jefferson, Battle and sophomore guard Jayvin Irby (South Orange, N.J./The Patrick School) all finished with seven points apiece. Battle dished out four assists while Jefferson had three dimes.
- Forwards sophomore Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) and freshman Leon Lawson (Rahway, N.J./Rahway) each had six points. Savoy also notched six boards, three assists, two steals and a team-high two blocks after a solid performance yesterday. Lawson led NJCU with seven rebounds and had a steal.
- Rookie guard Felix Romero (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy Tech) saw eight minutes off the bench, and in that time he recorded one board, one steal and a game-best five assists.

All-Tournament:
Forever known as last year's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship game hero, Darley averaged 10.5 points per game this weekend to earn All-Tournament honors. See below for the full quintet of honorees:

• Keegan Scanlan (Maine-Augusta)
• Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) (NJCU)
• Kean Taylor (Alvernia University)
• Jaecee Martin (Saint Joseph)
• MVP - Tyree Mitchell (Saint Joseph)

Overall the tournament was won by the hosting USJ Blue Jays, who defeated the Moose on Saturday, 104-50, and then Alvernia in the title game on Sunday, 75-66.