GALLOWAY, N.J. — Possessing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in all of Division III — having played two separate #1-ranked teams this year — the New Jersey City University men's basketball team has stepped it up in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play of late. The Gothic Knights, thanks to its stellar 79-63 road victory over Stockton University on the road tonight, Wednesday, Jan. 12, have risen above the .500 mark and are now two games up in their NJAC win column.

Tonight against the Ospreys (11-3, 6-2 NJAC), junior guard Derryen Whyte (Irvington, N.J./Union) led the way for NJCU (8-7, 5-3 NJAC) as the Gothic Knights took the lead at the 18:55 mark in the first half and led Stockton wire to wire for the convincing victory — their third straight over the Ospreys. Whyte, in his second season with the Green & Gold, led all players with 21 points as he had an effortless night from beyond the arc (perfect 4-of-4) to go with a team-high-tying six rebounds.

Overall, after trailing following the game's first bucket, Whyte took over to start off the night, scoring 12 points in the first 4:31. He started with a jumper on the break to give NJCU the lead — as mentioned, one the squad never surrendered — had a couple other jumpers plus a steal, and capped it off with back-to-back treys to make it a 10-point game at 15:29. Jersey City led by as many as 15 points several times in the first half. The Gothic Knights broke that open to as many as 18 in the latter half of the second following a good jumper from freshman forward Corey Manning-Floyd (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) with 7:52 to go.

Stockton made NJCU nervous during a singular sequence in the early stages of the second half. With the Gothic Knights up 16 at 50-34, the Ospreys made an 8-0 run to cut it the deficit to eight at 50-42 with 14:57 remaining. Thankfully, Jersey City regrouped to the tune of a 7-0 run of its own — a lay-in from senior forward Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) at 14:33, another layup for sophomore forward Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) at 14:01 and a three from Whyte to cap it off at 13:22 — and took back control for the remainder of the night to come away victorious.

The squad did need another 8-0 run later in the half to stifle Stockton, who had gotten back to within 10. Sophomore guard Hakeem Wilson (Newark, N.J./North Star Academy) dropped in a jumper at 10:01, followed by a layup from Savoy at 8:16. Manning-Floyd swatted away an Osprey shot at 8:50 and freshman guard Zaire Jefferson (Newark, N.J./Payne Tech) converted for two points on the other end at 8:39. Then, Manning-Floyd capped off the run with a jumper of his own to make it an 18-point, 67-49 game with under eight minutes to play before the Gothic Knights sealed it.

Highlights:
- NJCU worked the boards all night and outscored Stockton 19-12 in second-chance points. The Knights also capitalized on the Ospreys' miscues and outscored the home team 19-8 in points off turnovers.
- In addition to Whyte, both Darley and senior tri-captain guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) finished their nights in double-figures scoring. The former chipped in 11 points on an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor, while the latter notched 10 points and a team-high-tying six boards to go with a game-best two steals.
- Freshman center Ben Todd (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real Charter) made his first-career start with NJCU. He played 16 minutes, going 2-of-3 from the floor to finish with seven points, three boards and a block.
- Senior tri-captain guard Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) led all players with four assists and chipped in six points.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 15, for a 3:00 p.m. match-up with Montclair State University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. NJCU has topped the Red Hawks in three straight meetings, including a home-and-home sweep of MSU last season behind back-to-back double-doubles from Savoy, which earned him a NJAC Player of the Week nod.