 Gothic Knights Storm Back To Win NJAC Championship on a Buzzer-Beater, 79-77 (Photo: NJAC)
Gothic Knights Storm Back To Win NJAC Championship on a Buzzer-Beater, 79-77 - Apr 9, 2021 
An extraordinary comeback was in the cards tonight as New Jersey City rallied from a 21-point deficit midway through the second half to win the NJAC Men's Basketball Championship on a buzzer-beating three and defeat Stockton 79-77.The conference title is the 13th overall for the Gothic Knights, and first since 2010-11. Kayton Darley (6'3''-SG) - who hit the game-winning three - finished with 17 points and Derryen Whyte (6'2''-G) matched the 17 points to lead NJCU. Stockton senior Tariq Baker (6'3''-F) led all scorers with 20 and DJ Campbell (6'3''-G) added 19 for the Ospreys, who were competing in their second straight title match. NJCU (7-1, 5-1 NJAC) entered the night playing in its 14th NJAC Championship game, including the 11th on the Gothic Knights' home floor. The win is their first NJAC title since 2011 when they defeated Montclair State University at home 72-67. Tonight, however, Jersey City was up against a tough Osprey (5-4, 3-3 NJAC) squad that had previously dealt the Gothic Knights their only loss of the season. The last time these two teams met, it was a similar ending as senior Denzel Banks won it with a buzzer-beater to give NJCU the the 67-65 win at the JMAC on Feb. 13. Both teams started off cold with neither side making a basket until the 17:23 mark when freshman Hakeem Wilson drained a jumper to make it 2-0. Sophomore Michael Clement followed that up with a lay-in to make it 4-0 en route to the Gothic Knights actually taking an early six-point lead at 11-5 with 14:10 remaining in the first half. However, Stockton blew the doors open next with a 21-0 run to take a 15-point, 26-11 lead with 9:19 left on the clock. The Ospreys were able to stretch that advantage out to as many as 19 points in the half before NJCU was able to trim the deficit down to 14 as time expired and the teams went in to the lockerrooms for halftime. Stockton was able to regroup at the break and in the start of the second half, jumped out to a commanding 21-point lead on three separate occasions, with the last one coming with 14:36 remaining on the clock leading 61-40. But that was the beginning of the end of the Ospreys as the Gothic Knights proceeded to outscore the lower-seeded visitors 39-16 for the duration of the championship battle. With just under three minutes to play, Stockton drained a three-pointer that seemingly took away all hope for NJCU to come back and win it, taking a 75-66 lead, but a 13-2 run, capped by Darley's buzzer-beater, told a completely different story. First, rookie Ryan Savoy grabbed a defensive board and hit Wilson with the outlet pass and the latter was able to sink the fastbreak bucket, trimming it down to 75-68 with 2:15 left. After a timeout for NJCU, Whyte was fouled on his way to the basket and then hit both his free throws to cut it to 75-70 with 1:58 remaining. Wilson was next for NJCU, as the rookie was fouled in the act and proceeded to sink both his shots from the foul line to make it 75-72 with 1:08 left. After a Stockton lay-in made it 77-72, Banks immediately followed with a fastbreak layup on the ensuing possession - it was now 77-74 with under a minute left. With 00:22 remaining, Wilson was fouled again on his way up and sank both free throws to make it 77-76. With 00:13 remaining, Stockton had a chance still to ice the game, but was not able to hit either free throw opportunity following a foul on Savoy. Banks immediately snagged the defensive board and a timeout was called. Head coach Marc Brown drew up the perfect play and, after a couple cycle passes around the three-point line, Darley was wide open for the game-winner - which he sank - and pandemonium ensued. Courtesy of njacsports.com NJAC Tournament Final: NJCU - Stockton 79-77 NJAC Tournament Semifinals: NJCU - Montclair State - cancelled Stockton - TCNJ 65-58 All-NJAC Awards 2021 - Apr 9, 2021
Player of the Year: Travis Jocelyn (6'6''-F) of TCNJ Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Tariq Baker (6'3''-F) of Stockton Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Clement (6'6''-C) of NJCU Rookie of the Year: Ryan Savoy (6'4''-F) of NJCU Coach of the Year: Marc Brown of NJCU 1st Team Denzel Banks (6'2''-G) of NJCU DJ Campbell (6'3''-G) of Stockton Travis Jocelyn (6'6''-F) of TCNJ Luciano Lubrano (6'4''-G) of Stockton Yvens Monfleury (6'6''-F) of William Paterson 2nd Team JD Daniels (6'2''-G) of Kean Kyion Flanders (6'2''-G) of Stockton Myles Mitchell-White (5'11''-PG) of Montclair State P.J. Ringel (6'1''-G) of TCNJ Derryen Whyte (6'2''-G) of NJCU Honorable Mention Danny Bodine (6'9''-F) of TCNJ Steven Breeman (6'5''-F) of Montclair State Irving Callender (6'7''-G/F) of Montclair State Domenic Mignone (6'0''-PG) of William Paterson Quincy Rutherford (6'3''-G) of Rutgers-Newark Ryan Savoy (6'4''-F) of NJCU | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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