Friday, November 18, 2011 (Men's Basketball)

NJCU ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OF MESSIAH TOURNAMENT, 84-35

GRANTHAM, PA (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University had nine different players score at least four points and shot 55.6 percent from the field in a lopsided 84-35, 49-point victory over Williamson Trade School in the opening round of the Homewood Suites by Hilton Tournament, hosted by Messiah College on Friday afternoon.

NJCU will face the winner of the second game of the tournament—Messiah or Penn State Wilkes-Barre—in the championship game tomorrow at 4 p.m.

The Gothic Knights entered the game 1-0 on the season but the statistics and result of this game will not count towards NJCU's overall record because Williamson Trade is not a four-year school. The contest will be recorded historically as an exhibition. WT went 20-7 last year and entered the game with a 2-1 record.

NJCU controlled the game from the early moments, jumping out to an 8-1 edge and never trailed before gaining a 43-21 advantage at halftime. The Knights outscored WT, 41-14 in the second half. NJCU committed just nine turnovers while forcing 21 and held a 36-2 advantage in bench scoring and 31-7 margin in points off turnovers. NJCU led by as many as 51 points.

The Knights shot 30-of-54 from the field, and made 8-of-14 from three-point territory .571) and 16-of-23 from the line (.696). Defensively, NJCU limited the opposition to 14-of-52 shooting (.269) and 1-for-14 from three-point distance (.071).

For the second straight game to begin his NJCU career, junior swingman KAIHRIQUE IRICK (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) led the team in scoring, dropping 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds. Freshman small forward XAVIER CORPORAN (Union City, NJ/Union City) shot 5-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-3 from three-point range, collecting 13 points while junior small forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) chipped in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Senior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) delivered eight assists and seven points. Had the statistics counted, the assists mark would be a career high.

Also for NJCU, senior center MATT WASHINGTON (Hackensack, NJ/Paterson Catholic) collected nine points (3-4 FG) and three assists. Junior shooting guard DAVID COLE (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) provided seven points (2-3 FG).

Freshman guard Justin Swift (Wilmington, DE) had 17 points for WT (6-16) and junior forward Reggie Richardson (Chester, PA) added 12 points. Freshman forward Debro Curtis (Wilmington, DE) grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—