JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's basketball team played its final New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and regular-season game of the year at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Wednesday night, Feb. 16, against Rutgers-Camden. Before the game, the team celebrated the class of 2023 graduating seniors Jason Battle (Jersey City, N.J./Roselle Catholic), Yvens Monfluery and Kayton Darley (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen). NJCU won the game over the Scarlet Raptors 76-66 following a strong second half comeback.
Jersey City (12-13, 7-11 NJAC) opened the game up with a three from Darley to set the tone, but the Scarlet Raptors (4-21, 2-16 NJAC) saved one of their best starts to a game this season for last, as they answered back with 7-0 run to lead 7-3 with 17:12 left. NJCU came back to tie the score at 9-9 with 13:46 left, but the rest of the half saw Rutgers-Camden dominate the floor as the visitors held a lead into the break. The Scarlet Raptors had a lead as high as 13 with 3:28 left, but NJCU outscored Rutger-Camden 7-2 to close out the half, cutting the deficit to eight. The score at halftime saw the Scarlet Raptors lead 35-27.
The second half began the turning point for the Green and Gold as both Battle and freshman center Branden Moore (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) had electric second halves, combining for 24 of the teams eventual 49 points. Battle's hot start helped keep NJCU's deficit at single digits as he made a three with 13:33 left to bring the score to 49-40 in favor of Rutgers-Camden. The Scarlet Raptors continued to command the lead in the low double digits after, but saw the game reach its turning point with 9:04 remaining.
After drawing a shooting foul, a crucial technical foul on Camden came next and played into NJCU's favor as Moore converted all four free throws, allowing NJCU to cut the deficit to eight at 56-48. This began NJCU's eventual 31-10 run over the last nine minutes. Freshman guard Bakhi Rogers-Robinson (Orange, N.J./West Caldwell Tech) and junior forward Ryan Savoy (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) went on an 11-2 run of their own to tie the game up at 62-62 with 4:37 left. Then 26 seconds later, just like against Rowan, Big Time Battle showed up late yet again, as from the right wing with the shot clock expiring, Battle converted a clutch step back three to put NJCU up top 65-62.
Savoy and Moore continued to produce until game's end after adding on 11 more points, while the Scarlet Raptors were only able muster three more points for the remainder of the contest. The Gothic Knights closed out the regular-season victorious, winning 76-66.
Highlights:
- Four Gothic Knights cracked double digits in points: Battle (19), Moore (15), Savoy (11) and junior forward Avante Gilbert (Paterson, N.J./International) (11).
- After a tough first half, Moore finished with a career day, posting a career-high 15 points and game-high six rebounds.
- Rodger-Robinson played 21 key minutes, collecting a game-high two steals with a solid 3-of-5 from the field along with five rebounds.
- Battle's 19 points were the second-highest total of his career with the Green and Gold.
Up Next:
Following last week's 1-1 record, combined with an 0-2 week from Ramapo College, the Green and Gold entered tonight against Camden already mathematically locked into the #6 seed of the 2023 NJAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. With the regular-season now complete, NJCU will return to action in the Quarterfinal Round on Saturday, Feb. 18, on the road at #3-seed Montclair State University in a 1:00 p.m. tipoff. If NJCU wins, the squad will advance to the Semifinal Round on Tuesday, Feb. 21, against top-seeded Rowan University down in Glassboro, N.J.