MAHWAH, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior swingman Kaihrique Irick (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) scored a career-high 27 points and forced the 10th tie of the night with a three with 44 seconds left in the first overtime, before Ramapo College answered with a three of its own and held off the Gothic Knights, 78-74, in a back-and-forth New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division men's basketball game on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.
The loss is just the second of the season for NJCU (9-2, 1-1 NJAC) as the Knights lose for the first time in league play. Ramapo (11-3, 2-1 NJAC) won its fifth in a row. NJCU leads the all-time series, 60-19.
NJCU trailed by 10 points early in the second half before forcing six of the seven ties that came in the second half. Senior forward Taquan Abdullah (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) gave NJCU a three-point, 69-66 lead 1:12 left in regulation before Ramapo answered with a three by junior guard Jermaine Emanuel (Englewood, NJ/Laney) for the seventh tie, to force overtime.