Box score
Jersey City, NJ... The College of New Jersey men's basketball team registered its first New Jersey Athletic Conference win of the year and third straight victory overall defeating New Jersey City University 66-60 in overtime.
During the win, senior Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Frank, who finished the game with 13 points, becomes the 21st Lion in program history to reach that milestone.
Senior Aaron Syvertsen (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) continued his strong offensive play netting a game-high 22 points. Syvertsen led the way on 9-of-16 shooting, which included a clutch three-pointer in overtime that provided TCNJ (7-5, 1-2 NJAC) with a six-point lead.
Down 28-22 at halftime, the Lions quickly took command in the second half. The lead exchanged hands throughout the second period as NJCU (5-6, 1-2 NJAC) forged ahead 54-53 at the 1:24 mark. Junior Steve Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) hit the first of two free-throws to knot the game at 54 with 1:17 left in the contest. Each side had their chances to win the game in the final minute, but neither could convert in regulation as the see-saw battle was destined for overtime.
The sharp-shooting duo of Frank and Syvertsen exemplified senior leadership hitting big jump shots early-on in the overtime period. The Gothic Knights battled back and cut the lead to three points when Kyle Ingram buried a three-pointer. But freshman guard Brandon Johnson (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) hit the two biggest free throws of his young collegiate career with 46 seconds remaining to give the Lions enough breathing room to hold off NJCU.
The Lions shot 47 percent from the floor in regulation, but were far too generous in other areas to host NJCU. They converted just 11-of-19 foul shots (58 percent) and turned the ball over 24 times. The Gothic Knights entered the game averaging 11 steals (tops in the NJAC) per game and matched their season average through the first two periods.
Siracusa finished with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Senior William Jett (Brown Mills, NJ/Pemberton) was three-for-three from the field chipping in with seven points and two steals in the road win.
Not surprisingly, Frank reached the 1,000-point mark by sinking a free throw. The senior guard entered the game shooting better than 81 percent from the foul-line for his career and dropped in his milestone point with 2:56 remaining in the first half to give the Lions a 22-21 lead. Frank currently ranks second in the NJAC in scoring averaging 16.7 points per game.
The last player to reach that milestone was Scott Findlay against Rutgers University-Newark in 2005. Current assistant coach Greg Grant is the all-time leading scorer in TCNJ history with 2,611 points from 1986-1989.
TCNJ returns home this Monday, January 11 to play a make-up game against Drew University at 7 p.m. The Lions host an NJAC double-header against Rutgers University-Camden on Wednesday, January 13.
