HOBOKEN, N.J. — Despite a tough night from the floor and as much as a 14-point defecit on the road, the #24-ranked New Jersey City University men's basketball team overcame the odds and stormed back for the two-point, 62-60 victory on Wednesday night, Nov. 17, against Hudson County foe Stevens Institute of Technology.

NJCU (3-1) was unable to get into the flow of this one early on as the Ducks (0-2) managed to take at 27-13 lead, their largest of the night, with 7:03 remaining in the first half. From that point on, however, the Gothic Knights began to slowly trim the deficit before trailing by seven at the break, thanks in part to a jumper from senior co-captain guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) with time winding down. Banks finished the night with a team-high 13 points to go with seven boards, two steals and a block.

The second half was more of the same as Jersey City started off with four quick points — a pair of free throws from Banks and a bucket down low from junior center Michael Clement (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) — to make it 30-27 in favor of Stevens with 19:25 to go. After the Ducks briefly stretched it back out to a seven-point game with 17:43 remaining, NJCU kicked off a 14-3 run to grab a four-point, 41-37 lead with 12:11 left to play.

After a timeout was called by head coach Marc Brown, sophomore forward Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) capped off the first possession out of the break with a dunk that changed the momentum. Senior forward Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) followed with a pair of free throws, and then senior guard Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) dropped in a jumper to make it a one point game. NJCU then took its first lead of the night thanks to a jumper from Darley at 14:53 to make it 35-34. After one made free throw for Stevens, Banks drilled a three at 13:29. Then, after a Ducks' lay-in, Banks again answered with another long-range ball to make it 41-37.

Stevens managed to slowly battle back and make it 45-45 with 9:32 left, however, thanks to some nice offensive output from Battle and Darley, NJCU once again took a seven-point lead at 55-48 with 7:15 left. The Ducks once again trimmed it to a one-point, 59-58 game with 1:12 on the clock. However, the Gothic Knights kept Stevens at bay for the remainder of the game and held on for the two-point victory.

Highlights:
- Darley finished with 11 points, seven boards and a block.
- Both Battle and Savoy chipped in 10 points apiece. Savoy notched nine boards, four steals, two blocks and an assist, while Battle registered five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
- Clement finished the night with a game-best 10 rebounds to go with eight points and a block.
- Sophomore guard Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy) came off the bench for 15 minutes to finish with six points and three rebounds.
- NJCU had a tough night shooting (32.8 percent), while the Ducks shot 36.1 percent from the floor. However, the Gothic Knights shot 71.0 percent from the charity stripe, compared to Stevens, who couldn't buy a free throw and finished the night 48.0 percent from the line.

Up Next:
Jersey City returns to the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Tuesday night, Nov. 23, to open up New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play for the 2021-22 season. Rutgers-Newark comes to town for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off. Follow all the action live on GothicVision.