Trailing by 10 with 1:41 remaining in the second half, New Jersey City University pulled off a miraculous comeback, led by junior swingman MARK WASHINGTON (East Orange, NJ/West Side), who hit two of the Gothic Knights four three-pointers to force overtime, as NJCU held off Lincoln University (PA), 76-70, in a thriller at the John J. Moore Athletic and Fitness Center.
In a battle of arguably the top two independent Division III schools in men’s basketball, NJCU (12-6) extended its home winning streak to 11 games dating to last season, by defeating the Lions in overtime for the second year in a row. NJCU has won four consecutive games, and 8-of-10 since the roster increased to 16 on December 28, which included Washington’s return. NJCU snapped Lincoln’s (11-5) six-game winning streak in the process. NJCU leads the all-time series, 6-0.
The game was the 46th overtime contest in school history (33-13) and 33rd in the 23-year career of Charles Brown, who is now 22-11 in extra sessions.
Washington led NJCU with 19 points (7-18)
including 3-of-8 from three-point range, and added eight assists and four blocks in 41 minutes.
Senior forward CHRISTOPHER KATES (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen) also reached double figures with 13, mostly from the line, where he connected on 10-of-14. He also hit one crucial three-pointer during NJCU’s comeback.
Sophomore forward DEVIN DAVIS (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) and sophomore center ABRAHAM WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) each chipped in nine points and grabbed six rebounds. Junior swingman SANNI OJIBARA (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) had seven points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Two players surpassed 20 points for Lincoln, led by junior forward Jarett Kearse (Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz) who posted a game-high 28 points (8-22), with eight rebounds and three assists, while hitting four three pointers (4-15), and 8-of-10 from the line. Junior guard Kyle Myrick (Philadelphia, PA/Overbrook), who ranks second in the nation in scoring at 26.1 per game, was held to 22 (8-19), with six rebounds and five assists. However, he committed eight turnovers while playing all 45 minutes of the contest. It was his second lowest scoring output of the year, only eclipsed by the 18 points he tallied in a loss on November 23. The game was the first for Lincoln since January 17, 12 days ago.
Freshman center Thomas Hickson (Baltimore, MD/Woodlawn) added 10 points (5-8), and a game-high 16 rebounds (eight offensive) in 40 minutes. Freshman forward Darryl White (Philadelphia, PA/Frankford) had seven points and four blocks.
NJCU led 15-8 in the first half, before a 17-1 run, mostly against the Knights’ second team, gave the Lions a nine-point lead, 25-16, with 5:40 left in the first half, after a tip-in by Hickson. Lincoln held a 34-26 lead at the break.
Lincoln pulled in front by 10 for the first time at 16:17 of the second half when White finished an alley-oop dunk off a half-court pass from Myrick. After NJCU shaved the lead to five, a three-pointer made it 50-40 at 12:06. The Knights reeled off a 12-2 run at 7:10, and tied the game at 52-52, when Ojibara canned a three.
Lincoln bounced back and answered by uncorking an 11-1 run, highlighted by seven free throws, and pulled back in front by 10, 63-53 with 1:44 to go.
Just when the must win for the NCAA-hopeful Knights looked bleak, a funny thing happened. It began raining threes. Davis made it a seven-point game with 1:30 left, and Washington cut it to three with 48 seconds remaining, 63-59. After Davis blocked a Myrick lay-up with 40 ticks left, Kates made it back-to-back-to-back treys for NJCU, to cut the deficit to only one, 63-62, and re-energized the crowd.
Kearse hit a pair of free throws with 21.6 seconds left to extend the Lincoln lead to three, 65-62. On the inbounds, Ojibara hit freshman forward LUIS DaSILVA (Newark, NJ/Newark-East Side) with a full-court homerun pass, which he laid in with 19.1 seconds to go, and the score, 65-64. Myrick padded the lead with a pair of freebies with 18.4 remaining. Then, Kates found Washington on the right wing with nine seconds left, and the junior tri-captain, who needs just 61 points for 1000, drilled the three to tie it at 67-67. Myrick missed a running jumper as time expired.
In overtime, Washington gave NJCU the lead for good with a jumper on the first possession, and a Davis jumper made it 71-67 with 1:31 on the clock. After the teams traded free throws, NJCU hit two more, with Washington sinking the front end of two shots with 13 seconds left to give his team a six-point cushion, 74-68. Kearse hit two free throws with eight seconds left, but Kates sealed the win with a pair of freebies two seconds later.
Neither team shot particularly well, with NJCU making 23-of-75 (.307), and the Lions converting 24-of-68 (.353). NJCU hit nine threes (9-34, .265), with Lincoln finishing six (6-25, .240). NJCU was 21-of 32 at the line (.656) versus 16-of-22 for the visitors (.727). The Lions owned a 34-18 margin in points in the paint, but NJCU answered with a 34-7 difference in bench scoring.
NJCU returns to action on Thursday, February 3 at 7pm when it hosts Mitchell College (CT), in the second of six consecutive home games.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
Newspaper Box Score Lincoln University (PA) vs New Jersey City University 01/29/05 8:20 pm at Jersey City, NJ (JJM Ath. & Fitness Ctr) At Jersey City, NJ (JJM Ath. & Fitness Ctr) NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 76, LINCOLN UNIVERSITY (PA) 70 LINCOLN UNIVERSITY (PA) (11-5) Jarett Kearse 8-22 8-10 28; Kyle Myrick 8-19 5-7 22; Thomas Hickson 5-8 0-1 10; Steven Lee 1-1 0-0 3; Darryl White 1-7 1-2 3; Thomas Lahart 0-2 2-2 2; Shawn Brown 1-3 0-0 2; Linwood Gilmore 0-0 0-0 0; Garrick Wooten 0-0 0-0 0; Jamal Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0; Clarence Grant 0-1 0-0 0; Vincent Carter-Bey 0-1 0-0 0; Antonio Wright 0-0 0-0 0; Alexis Perez 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 16-22 70. NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY (12-6) Mark Washington 7-18 2-3 19; Christopher Kates 1-4 10-14 13; Abraham Williams 3-9 3-5 9; Devin Davis 4-10 0-0 9; Sanni Ojibara 2-11 2-2 7; Luis DaSilva 2-5 0-0 5; Ben Balcom 1-7 1-2 4; James Kaiser 1-2 2-4 4; Javier Rodriguez 1-3 0-0 3; Will Morris 1-2 0-0 2; Charles Coles 0-2 1-2 1; Antoinne Morgano 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-75 21-32 76. Lincoln University (PA)....... 34 33 3 - 70 New Jersey City University.... 26 41 9 - 76 3-point goals-Lincoln University (PA) 6-25 (Jarett Kearse 4-15; Kyle Myrick 1-4; Steven Lee 1-1; Clarence Grant 0-1; Alexis Perez 0-4), New Jersey City University 9-34 (Mark Washington 3-8; Javier Rodriguez 1-3; Christopher Kates 1-2; Luis DaSilva 1-3; Sanni Ojibara 1-6; Devin Davis 1-4; Ben Balcom 1-6; Charles Coles 0-2). Fouled out--Lincoln University (PA)-None, New Jersey City University-None. Rebounds-Lincoln University (PA) 52 (Thomas Hickson 16), New Jersey City University 53 (Devin Davis 6; Abraham Williams 6; Sanni Ojibara 6; Ben Balcom 6). Assists-Lincoln University (PA) 8 (Kyle Myrick 5), New Jersey City University 18 (Mark Washington 8). Total fouls-Lincoln University (PA) 21, New Jersey City University 17. A-259 NJCU extends home winning streak to 11 straight since 2003-04. NJCU leads all-time series, 6-0, with overtime wins the last two years. Game was match-up of two of top four independent men's teams in Division III. NJCU has won four in a row. Lincoln's winning streak is snapped at six.