JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's basketball team put together a full 40 minutes of strong team play tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 7, and picked up its second consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) victory. The Gothic Knights hosted Ramapo College at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) and took down the Roadrunners by nine, 58-49, on Coach Charlie Brown Court.

NJCU (5-3, 2-2 NJAC) was a bit shorthanded on the night against Rampo (4-4, 1-3 NJAC), but everyone up and down the roster made contributions to help lead the squad to the victory. Sophomore guard Zaire Jefferson (Newark, N.J./Payne Tech) saw a career-high-tying 23 minutes on the floor and had a very efficient shooting performance, going 5-of-7 to score a game-high 12 points. Additionally, senior co-captain forward Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) was 50.0 percent from the floor and chipped in 11 points in the winning effort, while freshman forward Branden Moore (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) took advantage of his expanded playing time to score a career-best 10 points in 10 minutes. Junior forward Jacob Valeus (Pleasantville, N.J./Pleasantville) was dominant on the boards all night long and led all players with a career-best 13 rebounds.

The first half of the initial 20 minutes of the contest saw the teams go back and forth, with the Gothic Knights maintaining a lead for the majority of it, but never by that wide of a margin. Then, leading by three at 19-16 with 8:57 remaining until the half, Jersey City went on a 9-2 run to take a game-high 10-point lead at 28-18 with 6:27 to go before the break.

Moore started it off with a couple of made foul shots, followed by the same from junior forward Pharoh Allah (Rahway, N.J./St. Genevieve (Calif.)). Then, after Ramapo sank a lay-in, Moore drained the first three-point field goal of his collegiate career to stretch it out to an eight-point advantage. The rookie closed out the run by grabbing an offensive board and then putting the follow back in to give his squad the 10-point lead. The Roadrunners closed out the first half on a 12-5 run, however, trimming NJCU's lead to 33-30 at the break.

Darley started off the second half with an exclamation point, draining a three-pointer to put NJCU back up by six. He was 4-of-5 from the floor in the second half and scored nine of his 11 during the second 20 minutes, as well. A quick 5-0 run that shortly followed once again put the Gothic Knights up by 10 at 43-33 with 14:11 remaining. Valeus hit the offensive glass and made it a seven-point lead with 16:49 left. Moore then split a pair of free throws to bring it to eight before draining his final bucket of the night to make it a 10-point game.

However, Ramapo answered right back and went on an 8-0 to make it just a two-point game with 10:33 remaining in regulation. The Roadrunners managed to keep with close by nailing a three at the 5:19 mark to make it a four-point game. However, that's as close as the visitors would come for the remainder of the contest as the Green and Gold closed out the night on a 7-2 run, including a couple of jumpers from Darley, to cap off the nine-point, 58-49 victory.

Highlights:
- As exemplified by Moore and Jefferson's performances, NJCU's bench players outscored those of Ramapo, 31-11.
- Senior co-captain guard Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic) led all players with a game-high five assists to go with six points and three rebounds over 29 minutes on the floor.
- Senior Yvens Monfleury (Newark, N.J./American History) blocked a game-best two shots. He finished with a couple of points and rebounds.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action for their second road NJAC game of the season as they look to put together three wins in a row and get over the .500 mark in conference play. NJCU heads out to Union, N.J., to face Kean University on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 10, in a 1:00 p.m. tipoff. Jersey City had won 15 straight against the Cougars before splitting last season's series, with each team winning on their home floor. The Green and Gold look to return to their winning ways against Kean this weekend.