JERSEY CITY, NJ – A late rally by the Rowan men's basketball team fell short as New Jersey City held on for an 81-79 win over the Profs in NJAC action today at the Moore Athletics & Fitness Center. The loss ruined a career-high 25-point effort by Rowan senior Jerry Price.
 
Rowan (8-10; 4-7 NJAC), which fell behind by as many as 11 points in the second half, trailed 78-69 with 2:39 to play. The Profs went on a 9-1 run and a three-pointer by Austin Kearney pulled them to within 79-78 with :38 remaining. NJCU's Jahmere Calhoun made one free throw at :30, and Denzel Banks hit one at :14, to give the Gothic Knights a three-point cushion as the Profs only got a free throw by Price with three seconds left to provide the final margin.
 
Price went 12-for-15 from the foul line for Rowan, which received 12 points apiece from Kearney, Diante Bah and Ryan O'Leary, and 10 points from Maliq Sanders.
 
NJCU (9-9; 6-5) led most of the game and held a 61-50 lead at 15:12 of the second half but the Profs chipped away at the deficit. NJCU went back up by double digits, 70-59, with 7:39 remaining, before Rowan scored six straight to cut it to 70-65. A layup by Banks was answered by a three from the Profs' Sanders to get the score to 72-68, but NJCU went on a 6-1 spurt to take the 78-69 lead with over two minutes to play.
 
The Gothic Knights led by as much as eight points in the first half, but Rowan took a very brief advantage, 26-24, at 8:08. NJCU then used a 10-0 spurt to take the lead for good, 34-26.

The Profs struggled from the perimeter, hitting just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from three-point range in the game, although they converted 26-for-34 from the foul line.
 
Banks had a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds for NJCU while Sam Toney did the same with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Rowan returns home on Wednesday, January 29 to host TCNJ at 8 p.m.