News Release

EWING, NJ — Saturday, February 14, 2004 (MEN’S BASKETBALL)

THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY SHOOTS 58.9 PERCENT AND UPSETS NEW JERSEY CITY, 88-79

The College of New Jersey shot lights out from the field, hitting 33-of-56 for a 58.9 percentage, and used that performance to pick up an all important victory, upsetting first-place New Jersey City University, 88-79, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon at TCNJ’s Packer Hall. The victory was the 150th in the 11-year career of TCNJ Head Coach John Castaldo.

TCNJ (14-8, 5-6 NJAC), which entered the game tied for third place in the NJAC Blue Division with Montclair State, earned a crucial win as the Lions continue to fight for one of two remaining berths in the conference tournament allotted to the division.

The TCNJ win ends NJCU’s six-game winning streak in the series, as the Lions earned a victory over the Gothic Knights for the first time since December 06, 2000 in Ewing. NJCU owns a 32-17 advantage over TCNJ in the 22-year career of Head Coach Charles Brown.

The loss for NJCU drops its record to 17-6 and 8-3 NJAC. The Gothic Knights already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the Blue Division, but the loss may hurt the clubs’ chances of gaining home court advantage through the NJAC Tournament, which begins on February 24. NJCU entered the game tied for the best overall conference record in the NJAC this season with Rowan University, but hold the tie-breaker with the Profs after crushing the Glassboro, NJ school in December. The Knights, ranked second in the Atlantic Region and 38th in Division III, are tied with Rowan for the most conference titles in NJAC history with 10. This will be NJCU’s final year in the league.

In defeat, sophomore forward MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) scored 11 of his team-high 19 in the first half, and finished with a double-double, seizing a game-high 14 rebounds (eight defensive). He hit 4-of-5 shots and 3-of-4 from deep in the first stanza, and finished 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. He also had three assists and two steals in 35 minutes.

Senior guard and All-American candidate SAMAR BATTLE (East Orange, NJ/Clifford Scott) added 17 to bring his career scoring total to 1374 and had eight offensive rebounds ion 33 minutes, but struggled shooting, making only 6-of-15.

Freshman forward RODNEY LIGON (Newark, NJ/University) had nine of his career-high 17 points in the first half, and he made 6-of-12 shots in 22 minutes of reserve action.

Freshman center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) added 11 points and two blocks.

Junior forward Derick Grant (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) led the Lions, scoring 16 (7-of-10) by halftime, before finishing with a game-high 22 (10-of-15) and six rebounds in 33 minutes. Junior guard Mike Snyder (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) had 11 of his 19 points in the opening half, and he made 8-of-12 shots in 23 minutes off the bench.

Junior guard Kyle Burke (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) tallied 16 points (5-of-10) and sophomore forward Scott Findlay (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) chipped in nine points and a team-best 10 rebounds (seven offensive) with five assists, six turnovers and two blocks before fouling out.

Sophomore center Jody Crowley (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) had nine points and nine boards (eight defensive) off the bench, and junior center Derek Brown (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains) also scored nine.

NJCU led 14-7 early, before a 19-2 run by the Lions gave TCNJ a 10-point, 26-16 edge at 9:40. The Lions increased the lead to 31-19 and despite back-to-back treys by the Knights to climb within six, TCNJ maintained a sizeable first half margin on 58.8 percent (20-of-34) shooting in the period, and built a 50-38 edge at the break.

TCNJ followed up its first half, by shooting even better in the second, making 59.1 percent on 13-of-22. The Lions increased its lead to as many as 19, 75-56, after hitting a pair of technical free throws at 9:01. NJCU attempted a comeback, and a Battle tip-in kept the Knights within eight, 83-75. However, NJCU could not draw any closer down the stretch, as the Lions held on for the upset win.

In defeat, NJCU shot a season-high 73.9 percent from the line (17-of-23), and outshot an opponent from the stripe for only the fifth time in 23 games. However, on this night NJCU struggled instead from the floor, finishing with a 32.9 percent shooting percentage (27-of-82) and 29.6 percent from long range (8-of-27). NJCU had a 48-38 rebounding margin, based on a 27-8 difference on the offensive glass, where the Knights missed 32 more shots than did the Lions. TCNJ held a 30-21 edge on defensive rebounds. NJCU took advantage of its offensive caroms, managing a 31-9 total in second chance points over TCNJ.

The Lions made 7-of-13 from three-point territory (53.8%).

NJCU begins the final week of the regular season on Wednesday, February 18 at 8pm with an NJAC game against William Paterson University at the Athletic & Fitness Center.
-WWW.NJCU.EDU/GOKNIGHTS-

Newspaper Box Score
New Jersey City University vs The College of New Jersey
2/14/04 1:00 p.m. at Packer Hall (Ewing, NJ)
At Packer Hall (Ewing, NJ)
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY 88, NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 79
NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY (17-6, 8-3 NJAC)
Mark Washington 6-13 3-5 19; Rodney Ligon 6-12 4-4 17; Samar Battle 6-15 3-4
17; Abraham Williams 4-12 3-6 11; Harold Williams 3-8 2-2 8; Alex Mirabel
1-10 2-2 4; Javier Rodriguez 1-6 0-0 3; Lamar Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Arshen Hunter
0-1 0-0 0; Kareem Collins 0-5 0-0 0; Mike Barry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-82
17-23 79.
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY (14-8, 5-6 NJAC)
Derick Grant 10-15 0-0 22; Mike Snyder 8-12 2-2 19; Kyle Burke 5-10 2-4 16;
Derek Brown 4-6 1-2 9; Scott Findlay 3-8 3-7 9; Jody Crowley 3-3 3-4 9;
Bobby Henning 0-2 4-4 4; Matt Diamond 0-0 0-0 0; Dan DeSerio 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 33-56 15-23 88.
New Jersey City University....   38   41  -   79
The College of New Jersey.....   50   38  -   88
3-point goals-New Jersey City University 8-27 (Mark Washington 4-8; Samar
Battle 2-4; Javier Rodriguez 1-5; Rodney Ligon 1-5; Arshen Hunter 0-1;
Kareem Collins 0-2; Alex Mirabel 0-2), The College of New Jersey 7-13 (Kyle
Burke 4-9; Derick Grant 2-3; Mike Snyder 1-1). Fouled out--New Jersey City
University-None, The College of New Jersey-Scott Findlay. Rebounds-New
Jersey City University 48 (Mark Washington 14), The College of New Jersey 38
(Scott Findlay 10). Assists-New Jersey City University 16 (Kareem Collins
4), The College of New Jersey 16 (Scott Findlay 5). Total fouls-New Jersey
City University 19, The College of New Jersey 19. A-678

TCNJ head coach John Castaldo earns
his 150th career win. Derick Grant led the Lions with a game-high 22 points,
while Mark Washington paced NJCU with 19 points and 14 rebounds.