MBB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Truck]

Ramapo has knocked off NJCU, a worthy opponent, in a thriller in Jersey City that went to OT.

Omar Alston is the player of the game with 29 pts, including the game winner with 4 seconds left.

Congratulations to Chuck McBreen for being the real "NJAC Coach of the Year" and to the entire Ramapo squad to rebound from their disasterous outling on the 17th and come into hostile territory in Jersey City and earn a berth to the NCAAs and the SECOND NJAC Championship in three years. Let's Go Ramapo!!!!

FYI: For those interested, you can follow my updates on page 37 as the game went on. What an exciting finish...

[BigMike.]

  Truck, I share your sentiments; I would have loved to see this one!! Any chance Ramapo can host the regionals?

[Truck]

They have a great chance to host the NCAAs I would imagine. We would have to see how the brackets play out. Let's hope we get a first round bye and then get to host the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 just like two years ago.

At least RCNJ will get an automatic berth to represent the NJAC in the tournament. NJCU played great and they should get a bid to the tournament as well, but nothing is promised.

[Knightstalker]

First off it was a great game, the Roadrunners and Knights played their hearts out.  Both coaches went with a really short rotation, the starters were in the game at the end of regulation and in overtime, many with four fouls on each team, they didn't really sit until they fouled out.  Abe and Omar beat each other up for most of the game, it was a fun matchup to watch.  How NJCU could leave Omar sitting out on the wing and let him take open jumpers I can't figure out, maybe they didn't notice the 6'6" 300 pounder there.

That said along with congrats to Ramapo, I have to say the officials were horrible, how do you not get the best officials for a conference championship game.  I did not get there until half time.  I was told by a few reliable sources that the refs let them play in the first half.  At the start of the second half the refs decided it was time for everyone to notice them.  I think it took about a half an hour to play the first five minutes of the second half, and there were barely any points scored in that time.  After that the refs started to let them play again but just weren't consistant.  The only time NJCU really got screwed was at the end of regulation, on the inbounds I think Tucker was fouled by Pryor, but then the refs and the worst of the three blind mice butted in and after over a minute they decided that no one got fouled and they actually added time back to the clock and NJCU had to inbounds again.

The overtime was intense and NJCU had a chance with about 3.7 left to tie or win but Tuckers shot was slightly off. 

I don't blame the loss on the refs, I am just upset that the conference championship game couldn't be called well.

Truck, I think NJCU will end up in the ECAC's, I don't think an 18 win team gets into the NCAA's, besides being behind Stevens for Pool C consideration.  Behind Stevens, they stop playing a bunch of NJAC teams every year and all of a sudden they are good.

[Truck]

Ramapo press release from the game....

RAMAPO GETS IT WHEN IT COUNTS
Roadrunners Defeat Gothic Knights for NJAC Championship, 83-81 in OT

Jersey City, NJ...Junior centerOmar Alston (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) sank a seven-foot jumper from the right of the lane with 3.8 seconds remaining in overtime, finishing with 29 points, as Ramapo College rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to force an extra session, and held on to defeatNew Jersey City University, 83-81, in the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball championship.  There were 18 lead changes and eight ties in what may be considered as one of the greatest NJAC games ever played.

Senior guardAntoine Pryor (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick's) forced overtime with 7.5 seconds remaining, when he sank a three-pointer from the left wing to tie the game at 68-68. NJCU led by seven with 1:38 left in regulation. NJCU sophomore swingmanDANA JOHN (Hillside, NJ/Pocono Mountain East (Pa.)) tied the game at 81-81 with 21.9 seconds left in overtime with a three from the right corner beforeAlston won it.

Ramapo (21-7, 9-4 NJAC) wins its second NJAC championship in school history, and earns the conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division III Tournament. NJCU (18-9, 11-2 NJAC) now must wait to see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAAs; that announcement will be made on Sunday night.

Ramapo was appearing in the NJAC finals for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons. Its only other title came in 2005. This is the 50th year of the NJAC.

Alstonscored 29 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, adding nine rebounds.

Sophomore forwardTim Wesley (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) had 18 points (8-14 FG) and nine rebounds (seven offensive).Pryor had 13 points (5-11 FG; 2-6 3FG) and three assists before fouling out. Junior guardAhmad Mosby (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony), also fouled out, after providing 11 points (4-15 FG) and four assists in 40 minutes. In all, RCNJ was called for 31 fouls and three players were disqualified.

For NJCU, senior centerAbraham Williams (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) notched a double-double with 18 points (6-21 FG), 11 rebounds, and four assists.John collected 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, and junior forwardMarques Hill (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) contributed a game-high 14 rebounds, 10 points, five assists and four blocks in 43 minutes.

Also for NJCU, senior point guardAlex Mirabel (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had 11 points (5-5 FT), five rebounds and four steals, and junior guardAaron Desir (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) finished with 10 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. He hit 2-of-4 from three-point range. Sophomore guardKevin Tucker (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) collected seven points, seven assists and three steals.

In a first half with 10 lead chances and four ties,Alston, who had 13 points in the period,hit his fifth three of the season, giving RCNJ a 29-25 edge. The Roadrunners led at the half, 31-30.

Ramapo picked up six fouls in the first 2:55 of the second period, but still held a 35-34 lead with 15:53 left. From there, NJCU uncorked a 13-1 run to gain its largest lead of the game, 47-36, with 10:49 left, asDesir drilled a three; he had five points during the spurt.

The teams traded baskets, and maintained a nine-point, 59-50 margin with 4:43 left asWilliams converted two free throws.Pryor made it 59-53 with a triple at 4:32, butMirabel added two freebies at 4:15, extending NJCU's cushion to eight, 61-53. It stood at six, 61-55 with 3:52 left whenWesley drove for a lay-up. After NJCU committed turnovers on two straight possessions, a three byWesley cut the deficit to three, 61-58, with 2:17 left.

Tuckertook a bounce pass fromWilliams with 1:57 left, converting a lay-up and free throw for a 64-58 lead, and with 1:38 left,Tucker made the back-end of two free throws, as NJCU led by seven with 1:38 remaining.

With 1:29 left,Alston hit a straightaway three to make it 65-61, and an off-balance jumper byPryor trimmed the score to 66-63 at 1:05.

With 33.7 left,Alston went to the line and missed two free throws, butWesley grabbed the offensive rebound and putback the second chance, making it 66-65 with 30.6 seconds. RCNJ fouled junior guardShy Martinez (Union City, NJ/Union Hill), who transferred to NJCU from Ramapo, and he made two free throws with 25.4 on the board, extending the lead to three, 68-65.

With 13 seconds left,Hill blocked a jumper byMosby, who caught the rebound on the right wing, before sending a cross-court pass toPryor for the tying three. The Knights had the ball with 7.5 seconds left, butJohn missed a potential winning jumper at the buzzer.

In overtime,Mosby put RCNJ ahead, 72-70, beforeMirabel made two free throws (3:47), and after a Roadrunners turnover,John drained a three from the right wing (3:32) off an inbounds pass fromTucker, for a 75-72 advantage.Mosby hit two free throws at 2:45. After NJCU committed back-to-back turnovers,Mosby's fast-break lay-up with 2:16 left put Ramapo in the lead at 76-75.

A lay-up byWilliams put NJCU back in front, 77-76 (1:59), andJohn made the back-end of two free throws for a 78-76 score at 1:25. With 1:01 left,Alston buried his third three-pointer of the game from the left side, and RCNJ led 79-78. With 28.3 remaining, junior guardJason Marshall (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) finished a lay-up and Ramapo led by three, 81-78.John received a pass fromTucker with 21.9 remaining, splashing home a three-pointer from the right corner to tie it at 81-81.

ButAlston took a feed from senior guardJohn Wojcik (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville) on the right baseline, drove to the basket, before pulling up for the title-clinching jumper.Tucker's running jumper on the right wing rimmed out at the buzzer.

[Lefty]

I have to agree with Knightstalker....that was one heck of a game.  The officiating was awful but not the cause of the loss....they were bad both ways.   Omar Alston won this game for Ramapo....he was outstanding down low and hit some big three's in the second half.

Good luck to Ramapo in the NCAA's.  I don't see NJCU getting in with nine losses.  Early season losses to Albright and Farmingdale really hurts NJCU chances.

[irapthor]

Truck, that was my press release, not Ramapo's...

[Knightstalker]

Nice crowd last night, Ramapo brought a nice size student section and the NJCU baseball team and other teams were dressed in green and gold, wearing bad green afro wigs, hair colored green and they were rowdy.  I saw a several former players from both teams there.  No real problems, although towards the end of regulation and overtime the NJCU security officers and a couple of JCPD officers headed over and kept watch on the Ramapo and NJCU students, a few were starting to get a little out of hand.  The officers standing there and a couple of words from a JC cop and everyone behaved, stayed rowdy but no problems.

Holy run on sentence batman.

[Truck]

Truck, that was my press release, not Ramapo's...

Sorry, I found it on the Ramapo site so I assumed Rachel Pinton wrote it up.

Great job on the LiveStats, but how come you weren't doing radio last night?

[irapthor]

During home games I'm handling the in-game statistics and the Live Stats and don't have a full-time assistant, so we can't do radio...Obviously I do the radio for all road games. It is my hope that our communications students will show the interest we need so they can begin doing some of the broadcasting next season. While I love doing it, doing every game by yourself takes a toll and has its limitations. Gordon Mann was my first on-air partner all year last week.

Anyway, the NJCU/Ramapo final probably has to go down as perhaps the greatest NJAC final ever played...My NJAC memory only goes back to the early 90s, so this is definitely an arguable topic...But for my money (if I was buying a ticket rather than working), this final, although not ending the way we at NJCU had hoped, was tremendous.

And as Mike stated, both schools had very vocal, but well-behaved fans. The environment was one of the best I have had the privledge to witness at the DIII level.

[mean]

Definately one of the greatests RCNJ/NJCU games period. These two heavyweights have always been able to give the crowd their money's worth! I was at the game and I did not sit down for one second. As usual, I was expecting a big game from both sides and I was expecting the officiating to be horrible. Ramapo did a great job on Dana John by limiting him of his favorite shot, when he's coming from the baseline and just elevating on those three point bombs. He had a few, but now as many as he did in Mahwah. The RoadRunners were able to make the adjustment as Wesley took on the assignment with more pride this time around. Unfortunately for Ramapo, Shakir couldn't suit up, but they were able to pull together and play with the same, if not, more intensity and hunger just as he does when he plays. Alston was fantastic!!! From the jumpball til his game winner, he played as a good as any big man has ever played at Ramapo. Surprisingly, showing off his touch from downtown knock all the doubts out of my head that he can really play. I dont know how many NJCU wanted to see him make, but as athletic as the bigs of NJCU are they poorly contested Alston's shots from the outside. I mean, they are quick enough to recover from any shot fake that far away from the basket he would have made. But i'm glad they used poor judgement and allowed the big fella to make big buckets for the RoadRunners. Abe Williams played the best basketball I've seen him play this season, but that night, Alston was really rolling.
I am especially happy for RCNJ's Proyor. This guy is the man who drives the RoadRunners! Even though his is the smallest player on the squad, his character has soaked through this program and was trully evident in the final minutes of the game. A four year starter who played in four championships ( 1 ECAC, 3  NJAC) will definately be remembered as one the greatest to ever play for the RoadRunners.
There is still alot of basketball to play. Hopefully RCNJ can get two home games.
Hats off to NJCU. Coach Brown has done a very great job once again this year. Coming back into the conference, picked to finish forth overall, and make it to the finals is trully an accomplishment.

   

[Truck]

Great post Mean. Glad to see you finally came around on Omar. 

I was watching him warm up at the Rec Center when they played WPU and damn was he draining those 3s. It's great to have a big man who can play inside and out.

[Knightstalker]

It looks like NJCU racks up another ECAC title.  I don't mind the fact that the Knights did not get in, they lost some early games they should have won and they should have taken care of business friday night.  What bugs me is WPI and Stevens getting in, two teams that probably aren't as good as WPU, Kean and TCNJ but because of the NCAA's way of doing things are considered better teams.  The WIAC teams deserve to be in more than those two do.  I mean if Coast Guard gets your conferences Pool A bid, you don't deserve to go to the NCAA's.

[njachoopsfan]

Ira - Its too bad that we can't organize some sort of broadcasting team for the conference made up of braodcasters from each college.  Then if coverage is needed for a game then you can tap on one of the broadcasters in the group for coverage   

[irapthor]

That idea definitely has some merit...The New Jersey Athletic Conference Network.