JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's basketball team, seeded #7 in the 2021-22 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament, hosted 10th-seeded Rutgers-Camden at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 19. The Gothic Knights dominated the Scarlet Raptors in every facet of the First Round match-up and defeated the visitors 80-52, avenging a late-January loss to Rutgers-Camden with an exclamation point. The Green and Gold now advance to the quarterfinal round on Tuesday evening, Feb. 22, for a 7:30 p.m. tip at #2 seed Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. NJCU nearly topped the Profs in both meetings this year — an 89-84 loss in South Jersey on Jan. 5 and a 107-104 thrilling defeat at home on Feb. 9 — and look to get over the hump next week to advance to the semifinal round.
The Gothic Knights (12-14, 8-10 NJAC) set the tone early on against the Scarlet Raptors (1-21, 1-15 NJAC) and jumped out to an 11-0 lead with 15:28 remaining in the first half. Senior forward Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) scored five during that run, while sophomore forward Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) had a pair of jumpers in the lane. Rutgers-Camden straightened out its game at that point and eventually made it a five point, 13-8 game with 11:02 left until the break. Jersey City did then jump out to a 14-point lead on several occasions in the first, and held that double-digit advantage all the way through the first 20 minutes.
To start the second, NJCU widened its lead to 26 points at 55-29 with 10:52 remaining, following a 14-2 run beginning at the 16:47 mark. During that stretch, the Gothic Knights were 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the foul line. They received scoring from five different players, led by four apiece from Savoy and junior guard Derryen Whyte (Irvington, N.J./Union) — the latter of which finished with a game-high-tying 18 points on 7-of-11 from the floor in just 22 minutes played.
In full control, Jersey City was able to play its entire 13-man squad on the day and eventually took a game-high 31-point lead at 80-49 with 00:41 remaining before taking the 28-point victory. Freshman forward Corey Manning-Floyd (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) led the Gothic Knights with a game-high-tying six rebounds to go with five points in 13 minutes on the floor. Sophomore guard Jayvin Irby (South Orange, N.J./The Patrick School) pulled down a career-best five boards and was 5-of-6 from the line on the day. Sophomore forward Kamaal Cox (Brooklyn, N.Y./Hillside) saw six minutes of action off the bench and was 2-of-2.
After suffering their first loss to the Scarlet Raptors since Feb. 18, 2015, earlier this season, the Gothic Knights return to the win column and have now won 13 of their last 14 against Rutgers-Camden. Overall, Jersey City capitalized on the Scarlet Raptors' miscues and outscored them 25-8 in points off turnovers. Additionally, NJCU out-rebounded Rutgers-Camden 19-7 on the offensive boards and finished with a 20-5 edge in second-chance points.
Highlights:
- Darley ended with 11 points and four boards.
- Senior tri-captain guard Denzel Banks (Newark, NJ/East Orange Campus) rounded out the double-figures scorers for NJCU with 10 points and tied the game-high with six rebounds.
- Savoy had eight points (perfect 4-of-4 from the floor) to go with two boards.
- Senior tri-captain guard Marvellous Akingbala (Union, N.J./Union) drained a late three and finished with a game- and career-best three steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
Up Next:
As mentioned, Jersey City returns to action on Tuesday night against Rowan, looking to advance to the semifinals of the NJAC Tournament.