Junior swingman MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side) etched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore center DEVIN DAVIS (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) matched the 18 points, while rejecting five blocks as New Jersey City University hit 11 three-pointers and easy defeated Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham, 78-56, in the first round of the Lebanon Valley College/Dr. George “Rinso” Marquette Invitational at the LVC Gymnasium. NJCU led by as many as 27 late in the second half.
NJCU improves to 8-5 overall with its fourth win in five games since its roster expanded from 10 to 16 on December 28. The Gothic Knights will face the winner of #22 ranked Lebanon Valley (8-1) and Chestnut Hill College (7-3) on Sunday at 3pm for the tournament title. FDU falls to 5-6 with its second straight loss.
This was the first meeting between the schools since December 21, 1996. NJCU leads the all-time series, which began in 1961-62, 8-0, and have won five of the eight encounters by at least 20.
NJCU, which won the LVC Tournament in its only entry in 2000, defeating the Flying Dutchmen, 82-60, are the only school other than LVC to capture the event’s title since 1997.
Washington scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half as NJCU built a 42-23 lead at the break behind 7-of-19 three-point shooting. Washington, who has been named to All-Tournament teams twice since he rejoined the club on December 28, brought his career point total to 851 with his second double-double this week. He shot 6-of-10 overall, grabbed nine of his 11 rebounds on defense, and added four assists, and four steals in 29 minutes.
Davis scored nine of NJCU’s first 12 points and had 12 of his 18 in the opening period alone, as NJCU bounced back from an early four-point deficit and never trailed again after the 17:21 mark. He finished with five blocks, to bring his season total to 42 in 13 games, in his chase for the single-season record. He has rejected five or more blocks four times this year. Davis opened the game shooting 5-for-5 and finished at 8-of-13, including two three pointers, while adding four rebounds and three steals.
Also for NJCU, junior point guard ROB FREENEY (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) contributed eight points, including two treys, six rebounds, and three assists. Senior forward CHRISTOPHER KATES (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen) tallied eight points and canned two threes off the bench before leaving with a minor injury. Junior center JAMES KAISER (South Orange, NJ/Columbia) continued to excel off the bench with six points (3-3), five rebounds, and two assists in 18 minutes.
Defensively, NJCU did a solid job. Only one player reached double figures for the Devils, as senior center Chris Hendershot (Vernon, NJ/Wallkill Valley), who entered the game averaging 24.9 points per game and had notched 90 in his last three, was held to a game-high 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He also committed seven turnovers. In all, 18 players logged time for FDU in defeat.
NJCU shot 11-of-26 from three-point range, a .423 percentage, and 29-of-67 overall (.433), while allowing only 16 turnovers. FDU shot .389 overall (21-of-54), but struggled from long-range (3-15, .200) and coughed up 21 turnovers. The Devils couldn’t get closer than 14 in the second half as the Knights lead was maintained in the 20’s throughout much of the period
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
Newspaper Box Score New Jersey City vs FDU-Florham 1/8/05 6:00 pm at Annville, Pa. (LVC Gymnasium) At Annville, Pa. (LVC Gymnasium) NEW JERSEY CITY 78, FDU-FLORHAM 56 NEW JERSEY CITY (8-5) Mark Washington 6-10 5-7 18; Devin Davis 8-13 0-0 18; Christopher Kates 2-5 2-2 8; Rob Freeney 3-11 0-0 8; Charles Coles 2-4 0-0 6; James Kaiser 3-3 0-0 6; Javier Rodriguez 2-6 0-0 5; Namreh White 1-2 0-0 3; Antoinne Morgano 1-1 0-2 2; Will Morris 1-4 0-3 2; Lamar Jones 0-0 2-2 2; Luis DaSilva 0-2 0-0 0; Ben Balcom 0-5 0-1 0; Rajahn Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 9-17 78. FDU-FLORHAM (5-6) Chris Hendershot 9-17 2-2 20; Jeff Hemschoot 3-5 1-3 7; Christopher Trotta 2-4 0-0 5; Cody Chalmers 1-6 2-3 5; Pierre Schmitt 2-3 1-2 5; Daniel Mihalinec 1-2 2-2 4; Sean Lynch 1-2 0-0 3; Kevin White 1-3 1-1 3; Brian Dillon 0-1 2-4 2; Frank Emslie 1-7 0-0 2; Matt Cushing 0-2 0-2 0; Daniel Scaturro 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew Weisenthal 0-0 0-0 0; Richard Kane 0-0 0-0 0; T.J. Stellar 0-0 0-0 0; Brian Rimol 0-0 0-0 0; Carl Benning 0-0 0-0 0; Nate Lawrence 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 11-19 56. New Jersey City............... 42 36 - 78 FDU-Florham................... 23 33 - 56 3-point goals-New Jersey City 11-26 (Christopher Kates 2-3; Charles Coles 2-4; Devin Davis 2-3; Rob Freeney 2-5; Javier Rodriguez 1-2; Namreh White 1-1; Mark Washington 1-2; Luis DaSilva 0-2; Ben Balcom 0-3; Rajahn Jones 0-1), FDU-Florham 3-15 (Christopher Trotta 1-2; Cody Chalmers 1-4; Sean Lynch 1-1; Frank Emslie 0-4; Matt Cushing 0-2; Nate Lawrence 0-2). Fouled out--New Jersey City-None, FDU-Florham-None. Rebounds-New Jersey City 42 (Mark Washington 11), FDU-Florham 39 (Jeff Hemschoot 6; Cody Chalmers 6). Assists-New Jersey City 19 (Mark Washington 4), FDU-Florham 15 (Cody Chalmers 5; Frank Emslie 5). Total fouls-New Jersey City 21, FDU-Florham 20. A-391 Rinso Marquette Invitational First Round