Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team opened New Jersey Athletic Conference play on Saturday hosting the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University and despite a late run by the Gothic Knights, tallied a 72-70 win. TCNJ is now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC, while NJCU drops to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.

            TCNJ’s senior guard Brian Halligan (Delran, NJ/Delran) had a double-double and went on to pace the team to the win after finishing with a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds, including 12 defensive rebounds.

            TCNJ led 31-28 at the half as Halligan had a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  He added four three-point baskets in the first half to help the Lions. TCNJ shot 45.5% from three-point range (5-11) from beyond the arch in the first half and held NJCU to 25.0% from three-point range (2-8) and 36.7% from the floor (11-30).

            TCNJ opened the second half on an 8-2 run on back to back three-pointers by sophomore guard Jeff Molinelli (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) and led 39-30 at 17:40. The Lions hit two more treys and built a 44-30 lead as they hit their first five shots from the floor and were a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arch in the first 3:30 of play.

            NJCU’s rookie guard Josh Lopez (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary’s) subbed in and proceeded to hit three straight three-point baskets and was fouled on a play and had 10 points in less than a minute of play as NJCU pulled with in six, down 46-40 at 12:10. Lopez quickly became the team’s leading scorer in the game as he added a career-high 20 points having only connected for only nine points on the season thus far. The only shot he missed on the game was his final shot that could have won the game for NJCU.

Junior guard Corey Gilmore (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) also finished in double digits in scoring with 15 points, as he surpassed his previous career-high performance of 13. Junior forward Mark Aziz (Hackettstown, NJ/West Morris) picked up 18 points after adding 12 second half points for the Lions.

After a pair of costly turnovers by TCNJ, NJCU pulled with in three, 70-67 at 29.8 seconds. After a missed three pointer at 27.6 seconds by sophomore Dana John (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain East) and made three pointer by Lopez pulled NJCU with in one, 71-70. Aziz hit one of two free throws at 25.8 and gave the Lions a 72-70 lead. With time expiring, Lopez attempted a game-winning shot from three point range that bounced off the rim and preserved the win for TCNJ. John netted 14 points in the game, while Jamal Slappy (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) added 10 points and senior Alex Mirabel (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) picked up eight points with a team-high 11 rebounds.

            TCNJ travels to the University of Scranton on Monday, December 4 for a non-conference match-up with the Royals at 7:00 p.m. NJCU returns to action on December 6 when they travel to Rutgers University-Newark for a 7:30 p.m. NJAC match-up.