Box Score

Jersey City, NJ … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team dropped a 62-54 decision New Jersey City University in a tightly contested conference battle on Saturday night.
 
The lead exchanged hands six times in the game, but the Lions (8-11, 2-6) came out on the short end as the Gothic Knights (13-4, 4-3) captured their 13^th win of the season and fourth New Jersey Athletic Conference victory.
 
Freshman Emmanuel Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) led TCNJ's offense with 14 points. Senior Kyle Rawson (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills) added eight points and a career-best 10 rebounds in the game. Senior Albert Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) finished with seven points, while sophomore Dan Balevski (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor South) also had seven points along with seven boards.
 
NJCU had three players reach double figures led by Kaihrique Irick, who had a game-high 19 points. Walik Albright had 12 points and eight rebounds and Michael Morris finished with 11 points and five steals.
 
Turnover margin has been a strength for the Lions this season, but they committed an uncharacteristic 26 giveways in the game. Free-throw shooting was also a key factor in the past two wins for TCNJ, but they hit just 15-of-27 from the free throw line against the Gothic Knights. Those two elements proved to be too difficult to overcome.
 
NJCU held the lead for most of the first half until the Matlock brothers registered back-to-back buckets in the final minute of the period. Albert took a feed from Rawson and dropped in a layup to draw within a point at 24-23. After Rawson blocked a shot on the defensive end, Emmanuel Matlock drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to give TCNJ a 26-24 halftime advantage.
 
The second half showcased a number of short runs by both teams, but neither squad led by more than six points until the final eight seconds. The Lions went up 33-28 when Balevski hit a shot inside as he was fouled. He made the free throw to give TCNJ a five-point cushion.
 
NJCU responded with eight straight points to go up by three before junior Donovan Smalls(Union, NJ/Union) tied the match with a three-point bomb with 12:23 to play. Rawson then scored on the next two possessions and the Lions surged ahead 40-36.
 
The host took control with under five minutes to play. Irick hit a jumper and then a pair of free throws to give NJCU a 55-49 advantage with 3:51 remaining. From that point, all of the scoring throughout the remainder of the game came from the charity stripe.
 
TCNJ kept pace from the line, but couldn't hit the big shot they needed to close the gap.
 
The Lions return to the floor in Packer Hall on Friday, January 20 when they take on Eastern Connecticut College in a non-conference battle at 7 p.m.