MARIETTA, Ohio -- The Arcadia men's basketball team won the first NCAA Tournament game in program history on Friday night, knocking off New Jersey City 80-60 at Ban Johnson Arena on the campus on Marietta College.
 
The Knights ran their school-record win total to 23 (23-5) with the win, while the Gothic Knights season ends at 20-8. The Knights now advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the winner of Maryville vs. Marietta.
 
A stingy defense and a fast start propelled Arcadia to a 39-21 lead at halftime. The Scarlet & Grey held NJCU to 7 of 36 shooting (.194) over the first 20 minutes and used a pair of first-half runs in taking an early lead.
 
Leading 11-7 early in the first half, Arcadia scored eight straight points to extend its lead to 19-7 by the 11:28 mark. The Gothic Knights halved their deficit, pulling to within 23-17 by the 6:22 mark before an 11-0 burst by Arcadia.
 
Josh Scott scored the first four points for the Knights to make it 27-17, and Steve Pendleton followed with a triple at the 4:04 mark to push AU's lead to 30-17. Will Derr followed with a pair of free throws, and Scott capped the run with another layup with 3:24 on the clock.
 
The Knights countered NJCU's 19.4 percent shooting mark in the first half, by hitting on 11 of 20 shots (.550) in the first half, and also hitting on 16 of 21 free throws (.762).
 
In the second half, the Gothic Knights ratcheted up their defense, unleashing a full-court press in an effort to speed up the pace and get back in the contest.
 
The press caused some early problems for AU as New Jersey City used a 19-10 run in pulling to within 11 points (51-40) with 12:36 to play. The Gothic Knights forced four turnovers during that stretch and shot 9 of 12 from the floor in nearly halving the AU lead.
 
The Gothic Knights got a pair of free throws from the NJAC Player of the Year, Sam Toney, with 6:21 to play that made it a 10-point game at 59-49, before the Knights' began to pull away down the stretch. The Knights' lead reached 15 points (70-55) on a Scott free throw with 3:32 to play.
 
Arcadia didn't let up, scoring the next 10 points of the contest to stretch its lead to 80-55 as the reserves took the court for the Knights.
 
For the game, Arcadia shot 59.5 percent (25-42) from the floor, while NJCU finished at 31.9 percent (23-72) overall and 24.0 percent (6-25) from long range. The Gothic Knights forced 17 turnovers and held a 37-36 edge in rebounding, but Arcadia shot 28 of 37 (.757) from the line, while NJCU shot just 11 free throws, making good on eight attempts.
 
Scott, who averaged 27.5 points in the MAC Commonwealth Championships, led the Knights with 26 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the floor and 11 of 13 from the line. He added five rebounds and a pair of steals. Slone chipped in 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting, and Da'Kquan Davis scored 13 points, pulled down nine rebound and handed out three assists.  
 
Toney led the Gothic Knights with 19 points, but was held to 6 of 22 shooting. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.