SAMAR BATTLE NOTCHES CAREER-HIGH 32 AS FIRST PLACE NEW JERSEY CITY STOPS KEAN, 85-74
Senior guard and All-America candidate SAMAR BATTLE (East Orange, NJ/Clifford Scott) scored a career-high 32 points, including 22 in the first half, as New Jersey City University cruised past Kean University, 85-74, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference intra-divisional game at Kean’s D’Angola Gymnasium.
The Gothic Knights, the first place team in the NJAC Blue Division improve to 15-4 overall this season and a conference-best 6-1 in the league, while Kean falls 15-4 and 4-4 NJAC. The 15 wins for NJCU eclipses last season’s win total. NJCU is 34-11 against Kean in the career of Head Coach Charles Brown.
The Knights also improve to 22-3 all-time, 11-2 in the NJAC, and 10-1 this season when Battle scores 20 or more in a game. The 32 points surpasses his previous high of 30 points achieved twice this season, most recently in a December 30 win over Arcadia.
He shot 12-of-16, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory, and added five rebounds, three steals, and three assists in 35 minutes.
Sophomore forward MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) registered 15 points (4-of-9, 2-of-3 3 FG), seven defensive rebounds, and three steals in 33 minutes, while freshman center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) finished with 14 points, six steals, four rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Sophomore point guard ALEX MIRABEL (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) returned for NJCU after missing two games and contributed 10 points (6-of-8 free throws) while directing four assists in 27 minutes.
Sophomore forward B.J. Hamby (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) led the Cougars with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, with five steals in 35 minutes. Junior guard Tan Kesler (Istanbul, Turkey) fouled out with 1:06 remaining, but not before compiling 17 points (7-of-17, 0-7 3 FG) and three assists in 34 minutes, He committed five turnovers.
Also for Kean, freshman forward Steve Koenigstein (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) ended with 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7, and six rebounds (five defensive) in 19 minutes, and freshman guard Bryan Miller (Trenton, NJ/Trenton) added 11 points (4-of-8) and seven rebounds, while also playing 19 minutes. Miller surrendered five turnovers.
NJCU shot .538 for the game (28-of-52), converting .556 of its shots (15-of-27) in the first half while building a 40-29 halftime margin.
Kean shot .514 in the second half (19-of-37), but could not recover from a poor first half (10-of-29, .345), finishing the game at .439 (29-of-66).
NJCU was out-rebounded by the Cougars, 43-29, including a 17-7 edge for Kean on the offensive glass. NJCU attempted 40 free throws in the victory (23-of-40, .575). Kean committed 21 turnovers, which NJCU turned into a 26-13 scoring margin. Kean received 44 points from its bench, and held a 44-11 edge.
Kean scored the first two points before the game even started on an administrative technical foul. However, NJCU ran off seven straight to grab a 7-2 lead and would never trail again. The Knights led by as many as 14 in the first half, 35-21, on a Mirabel jumper, and Battle converted a fast-break dunk off a Kean turnover and Mirabel pass with three seconds left in the first half to account for a 40-29 lead at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half as the NJCU offense clicked, leading by as many as 14 points on three occasions in the period, including a 77-63 lead with 1:40 left. Kean never came closer than six points in the second half.
The game was stopped with 1:13 remaining in the second half when the window behind the bleachers on the Kean half of the court accidentally shattered on a group of fans, leaving a large, open air hole near mid-court.
NJCU returns to action on Monday, February 2 at 8pm when the Knights visit William Paterson University, in an NJAC Blue Division game in Wayne, NJ. That game is a make-up of a January 28 snow-out.
-WWW.NJCU.EDU/GOKNIGHTS-
Newspaper Box Score New Jersey City University vs Kean University 01/31/04 4 pm at Union, NJ (D'Angola Gymnasium) At Union, NJ (D'Angola Gymnasium) NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 85, KEAN UNIVERSITY 74 NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY (15-4, 6-1 NJAC) Samar Battle 12-16 5-10 32; Mark Washington 4-9 5-9 15; Abraham Williams 5-14 4-7 14; Alex Mirabel 2-3 6-8 10; Rodney Ligon 2-3 0-0 5; Kareem Collins 1-2 2-4 4; Harold Williams 1-2 1-2 3; Bo Agnan 1-1 0-0 2; Lamar Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Javier Rodriguez 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 23-40 85. KEAN UNIVERSITY (15-4, 4-4 NJAC) BJ Hamby 7-12 5-6 20; Tan Kesler 7-17 3-4 17; Steve Koenigstein 7-7 0-1 14; Bryan Miller 4-8 2-2 11; Armet Coles 3-12 2-2 8; Matt Betz 0-1 2-2 2; Danny Del Valle 1-3 0-1 2; Rich Harrell 0-0 0-0 0; Bryan Keller 0-1 0-0 0; Matt Horton 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 29-66 14-18 74. New Jersey City University.... 40 45 - 85 Kean University............... 29 45 - 74 3-point goals-New Jersey City University 6-11 (Samar Battle 3-5; Mark Washington 2-3; Rodney Ligon 1-2; Javier Rodriguez 0-1), Kean University 2-13 (BJ Hamby 1-3; Bryan Miller 1-1; Armet Coles 0-1; Bryan Keller 0-1; Tan Kesler 0-7). Fouled out--New Jersey City University-None, Kean University-Danny Del Valle; Tan Kesler. Rebounds-New Jersey City University 29 (Mark Washington 7), Kean University 43 (Bryan Miller 7). Assists-New Jersey City University 16 (Abraham Williams 4; Alex Mirabel 4), Kean University 14 (Tan Kesler 3). Total fouls-New Jersey City University 15, Kean University 25. A-396 NJCU'S Samar Battle establishes career-high with 32 points. NJCU improves to 22-3 all-time and 10-1 this season when Battle scores 20+.