Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team (15-3, 10-1 NJAC) defeated New Jersey City University (14-4, 8-3 NJAC) on Monday night in a conference contest by a final score of 67-60. Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) led the Lions with 16 points.

The Gothic Knights jumped out to an early lead as they went up 15-7, yet the Lions took the lead with a 16-3 run. As they have all season long the Lions used the long ball to their advantage, as Carpenter hit two threes and Jordan Glover (Trenton, Nj/Lawrence) along with Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) knocked one down during the run. Glover was the hot hand early on, as he knocked down back to back three pointers to give the Lions a 27-22 edge. The Lions were able to push their lead in the first half to as many as nine as Glover hit yet again from downtown with over a minute to play in the first half. 

The second half was a back and forth battle, as neither team was able to build a double digit lead. Each time the Lions tried to pull away with the game the Gothic Knights had the answer. Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) came up with a steal on the defensive end and converted the fast break lay up to tie the game at 55-55 with five and a half minutes to play. With just over two minutes to play, reigning NJAC Player of the Week Randall Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) registered a steal on the defensive end and got the transition bucket to go to put the Lions up 58-56. After getting a big defensive stop, Murdock Jr. hit on a jumper to put the Lions up four. The Gothic Knights knocked down a pair of free throws on the next possession, however Walko delivered the dagger as he sank a three pointer to put the Lions up 63-58 with 45 seconds to play. 

Carpenter scored 16 points on an efficient 6-10 shooting including 4-7 from long range, and Walko added 15, also on 6-10 shooting from the field. Murdock Jr. filled up the stat sheet with 13 points eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals while Glover scored 12 points on 4-6 shooting from three point land. Jensen was strong on the glass as he ripped down eight rebounds.

With the victory the Lions remain undefeated at home as they are now 7-0 in Packer Hall this season, and move into first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings. 

Next up for the Lions is another NJAC test, this time at Stockton University this Wednesday, January 24^th at 8pm.