Jersey City, NJ:  The #1 New Jersey City University men's basketball team defeated #4 Ramapo College in a NJAC Semifinal game tonight 66-58. The Gothic Knights improve to 20-8 overall while the Roadrunners now stand at 18-9 overall.
 
The Gothic Knights will play for the NJAC Championship on Friday, February 22nd as they host #2 Rowan University at 7pm. The Roadrunners will wait for a possible NCAA at-large bid which will be announced Monday, February 25th at 12:30pm in a NCAA selection show on ncaa.com. Coming into today's game, the Roadrunners are ranked #3 in the NCAA Atlantic Region behind, #2 Rowan and #1 NJCU.
 
Ramapo, who won the last two NJAC Championships, took a 29-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. Andre Morgan tied the game for the 5th time in the first half with a pair of free throws 11-11 with 12:01 on the clock that started a mini 6-0 run for Ramapo as they led 15-11. A jumper from James Richardson and a three-pointer from James Julius put NJCU back on top 16-15 with 8:27 on the clock. Ramapo would regain the lead for good in the first half on a jumper from Rob Lewis 17-16 with 7:18 left to play. The Roadrunners stretched the lead to five 23-18 as Connor Romano nailed a jumper in the paint with less than four minutes left in the half. NJCU and Ramapo traded baskets before Sam Toney, the two-time NJAC Player of the Year, converted on an and-one play to cut the Roadrunner lead to two with 2:40 on the clock. McWilliams scored the final two baskets in the half for Ramapo, sandwiched between a pair of free throws from NJCU's Yuri Brutus, as the Roadrunners led 29-25.
 
NJCU worked to tie the game for the 6th and 7th times in the game in the first 3:57 of the second half, the 7th as Denzel Banks recorded a layup for NJCU 36-36. The two teams traded baskets as the game was tied for the 8th time with 14:24 on the clock off a jumper from Morgan 38-38 before James Richardson nailed a jumper for NJCU that gave them the lead for good 40-38 with less than 14 minutes on the clock. The basket also started an 8-0 run as NJCU held a 46-38 lead with 12:21 left in the game. Toney hit a basket for NJCU 48-42 before Ramapo cut the lead to three with 9:56 on the clock as Lewis converted on an and-one play 45-48. Richardson would go on a 5-0 run of his own, scoring all five points as the Gothic Knights stretched their lead back to eight 53-45. Morgan started a 6-0 run for Ramapo as Morgan, Romano and McWilliams each scored a basket coming within two 51-53 with 4:31 left on the clock. Lavrone Green sank back-to-back three-pointers for NJCU as they held a six-point lead 59-53 with 2:17 left to play. Ramapo cut the lead to four with just over one-minute left in the game 57-61 before NJCU ended the game on a 5-1 run for the 66-58 victory.
 
Lewis led the Roadrunners with 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while McWilliams recorded 14 points and four rebounds. The team shot 41.7% from the field (20-48), 14.3% from the three-point line (1-7) and 68% from the free throw line (17-25). Ramapo held a 37-34 advantage in rebounds.
 
Four Gothic Knights scored in double figures in the game as they were led by Toney who posted 11 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Banks finished with 15 points and six rebounds while Richardson collected 14 points and Brutus tallied ten points. The team shot 37.5% from the field (24-64), 16% from the three-point line (4-25) and 70% (14-20) from the free throw line.