Jersey City, NJ …New Jersey City University slipped past The College of New Jersey men's basketball team to register a 63-58 victory on Saturday night at Coach Charlie Brown Court in Jersey City.
 
The loss drops the Lions to 12-10 overall and an 8-7 mark in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Gothic Knights improved to 9-11 this season and 7-7 in the NJAC.
 
TCNJ is now in fifth place in the league standings. That sets up a big road match this Wednesday night with Ramapo College, sits in sixth place after upsetting Richard Stockton College 52-46 at home. The top six teams in the conference standings qualify for the 2015 NJAC Championship Tournament.
 
The league contest was a tight battle throughout. The lead never reached double digits for either side and did not exceed five points in the second half. The Lions held a four-point lead late in the match, but the offense stalled as the Gothic Knights tallied the final nine points of the game.
 
Junior Bobby Brackett (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) led TCNJ with a double double. He posted a team-high 14 points and 16 rebounds in the game. Senior Skyelar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) finished with 12 points and six boards, while freshman Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) tallied eight points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
 
Junior Khalid Muhammad (Orange, NJ/Orange) paced the Gothic Knights with 14 points and six rebounds. Neville Joseph (Newark, NJ/West Side) contributed 12 points and Drew Marley (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) added 10 points.
 
NJCU jumped out to an 8-0 lead and held an advantage on the scoreboard throughout the first half. The Lions cut the deficit to two points by end of the first period and trailed 26-24 at the break.
 
A 9-2 run capped by an Alex Fox (Washington, NJ/Westwood) jumper gave TCNJ a 43-40 lead. It was a two-point game at 9:11 mark, but a three-pointer by Murdock, Jr. gave the Lions their largest lead at 49-44 with nine minutes to play.
 
Play remained even over the next six minutes before sophomore Eric Klacik (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) knocked down a three-point field goal with 2:24 left to put TCNJ up 58-54. But the Lions would not score another point the remainder of the game. Gothic Knights Eddie Browne (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side) and Joseph dropped in four straight free throws to tie the game. A Muhammad layup gave NJCU the lead with 1:15 left on the clock. Joseph hit one final foul shot to push the lead to three points.
 
The Lions had a final chance at a three-pointer to tie the game, but the shot didn't drop. An ensuing foul led to two more free throws from the Gothic Knights to finalize the score.
 
Senior Jayson Johnson (Bordentown, NJ/Life Center Academy) finished with seven points, while Klacik and Fox added six apiece.
 
TCNJ struggled with its shooting touch, hitting just 28 percent of its shots in the contest.
 
The Lions stay on the road as they visit Ramapo College on Wednesday night for a 7:30 start. They return home to Packer Hall to host William Paterson University on Saturday.