NEWARK, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University has made a habit of routing opponents this season and in the men's basketball team's first-ever appearance at the Prudential Center, the Gothic Knights rocked an opponent by the largest margin since 1989. NJCU led by 31 points at halftime and continued the onslaught in the second half as the Knights crushed St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) by 53 points, winning 97-44 in a non-conference neutral court game played at the home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets prior to their game with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

NJCU, which snapped a two-game losing streak, improved to 4-6 this season and its four wins have come by a combined 165 points—30, 31, 51 and 53; its six losses have all been narrow—2, 3 or 4 points and by a combined 17. St. Joseph's falls to 2-11 with its seventh straight setback. NJCU leads the all-time series, 4-0.

In the 78-year history of men's basketball at the University, the win was the 10th by at least 50 points and the second this season. The 53-point margin of victory matches the fifth most lopsided win in program history and is the largest point differential ever for a game in which the Knights did not score at least 105 points.

It was the largest margin of victory since a 57-point trouncing of Lehman College on December 19, 1989 (105-48) and matched a December 9, 1984 win over Rutgers-Newark for fifth place on the list (53 points, 111-58). The program record for margin of victory is 59, set in 1970 and matched in 1972.

Meanwhile, NJCU wins a game by 40 or more points for the 33rd time in school history and blows out a team by 30 or more for 88^th time ever—and fourth time this year. The Knights are now 223-15 (.937) in 238 all-time games when scoring 90 in program history; it was the team's third 90-point scoring effort of the season.

NJCU, which scored the first 14 points of the game, forced the Bears into 32 turnovers and used its transition game to register a decisive 37-9 margin in points off giveaways and 24-2 on the fast break. NJCU received a 46-14 scoring advantage in the paint, 22-6 on second chance possessions and 49-11 from its bench.

NJCU, which outrebounded the Bears by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, 60-31, had a 23-9 advantage on the offensive glass. The Knights shot 47.4 percent for the game (36-76) and grabbed a rebound on 23 of its 40 missed shots. NJCU also knocked down seven three pointers (7-16, .438).

Defensively, NJCU smothered the Bears, who shot just 12-of-53 overall (22.6 percent) and only 4-of-21 (.190) from three-point range.

All 12 NJCU players who dressed, scored and had a rebound. Four players reached double figures, led by sophomore point guard NAADIR WILLIAMS (Newark, NJ/Weequahic), who notched 13 of his career-best and game-high 16 points in the second half. He shot 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point distance to pace NJCU's reserves.

Junior point guard KEITH WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) collected 11 of his 15 points in the opening period as NJCU built a 31-point, 49-18 halftime cushion. He made 6-of-8 from the floor and connected on 3-of-4 from three-point territory, while adding seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. NJCU held a 22-11 edge in steals in the game.

Junior forward TAQUAN ABDULLAH (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) matched his season-high with 12 points—10 in the second half—making 3-of-6 shots and 6-of-7 from the line in 19 minutes. Sophomore forward WALIK ALBRIGHT (Jersey City, NJ/Create Charter) added 10 points (4-7 FG) and five rebounds.

Also for NJCU, reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, sophomore forward ISAIAH JOHNSON (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus), had eight points (3-7 FG) and equaled a game-high eight rebounds. Senior shooting guard DA'SHON BARRINO (East Orange, NJ/Malcolm X. Shabazz) scored all eight of his points in the first half and added four rebounds, four steals and three assists in 18 minutes.

Junior center DASHAWN EAGLE (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) matched Johnson with a game-high on the glass (eight rebounds). Senior forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) finished with seven points and seven caroms in 19 minutes and senior guard JAMES LIVINGSTON (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) gave out four assists to go along with six rebounds and five points.

St. Joe's received team highs of 14 points (6-9 FG), eight rebounds and three steals from sophomore forward Jan Rogowski (Brooklyn, NY/St. John's Prep). Junior guard Antoine Forehand (New York, NY/Rice) had nine points but committed seven turnovers.

The Bears didn't score their first points until the 14:41 mark of the first half and reached double figures with 7:54 left in the period. NJCU's largest first half lead was the 49-18 margin at the half. A basket by Livingston with 21 seconds left in the game boosted NJCU's margin to a game-high 55 points (97-42). NJCU led by at least 27 for the final 22 minutes of the contest—the first game of the 2011 portion of NJCU's schedule.

NJCU, which is 0-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, losing by a combined five points to Rutgers-Newark and Kean University, is back in action on Saturday, January 8 at 3 p.m. when it visits The College of New Jersey in a league game in Ewing, NJ.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—