By Rob Knox

After opening the season with consecutive losses to Brooklyn and Franklin & Marshall, New Jersey City heads into Christmas with a 7-2 overall record along with a 5-0 mark in New Jersey Athletic Conference play, its best start since opening the 2003-04 NJAC championship season at 5-0 in the league. The Gothic Knights are the only undefeated team in NJAC men's basketball play.

NJCU also accomplished a 5-0 start in 1993-94. The last time NJCU opened a season better than 5-0 in the NJAC was in the 1988-89 season when a 24-4 Jersey City State team went 17-1 in the NJAC and opened the year 9-0 in league play.

Leading NJCU early in the season has been the tandem of Jalen Harris and Chinwe Wosu. They are averaging 17.9 and 17.8 points per game, respectively. Wosu is also averaging 10.7 rebounds per contest. Also providing strong contributions for the Knights this season have been Yuri Brutus (9.7 points per game) and James Julius (9.1 points per game).

Harris has scored in double figures eight times this season. He extended his double-digit scoring streak to five consecutive games with a 12-point performance in NJCU’s 78-62 victory over Kean. In the victory over Kean, Wosu had his fourth 20-point performance of the season and his eighth double-digit scoring effort. He has five efforts of double figure rebounds. Wosu had 26 points and 15 rebounds. He was 11-of-14 from the field.

For the week en route to being named NJAC Player of the Week, Wosu had a ridiculously sick week where he averaged 25.0 points and 16.5 rebounds while shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from the field on 22-of-33 shooting. In two starts he tallied 50 points, 33 rebounds (16 offensive, 17 defensive) with four assists, four steals and a blocked shot.

NJCU's seven-game winning streak is the longest since winning seven straight from January 23 to February 13, 2013. The last time NJCU had a streak longer than seven straight was nine straight from January 24 to February 14, 2011. NJCU won the NJAC championship that season. NJCU is 7-2 to start a season for the first time since opening the 2011-12 season at 9-1 overall.

The Gothic Knights will play Buffalo State in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at Lehman.

Whitman is off to a 7-0 start behind its high-flying offense that’s averaging 92.1 points per game and its sticky defense that’s fourth nationally in steals per game (14.0). The Missionaries are receiving votes in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Whitman is 16th nationally in scoring offense and second in scoring margin (24.3 points per game).

Motivated by last year’s tough ending in which its 10-game winning streak and season abruptly ended in the first round of the Northwest Conference tournament, Whitman has turned games in Walla Walla into must-see events. The Whitties won 20 games last season and are off to a great start in improving that total. Whitman has won 17 consecutive regular season games since losing to Pacific.

Whitman has topped the century mark three this season with the latest occurrence in its latest triumph, a 101-65 decision over neighboring Walla Walla on Dec. 9. Christian McDonald led Whitman with 20 points in the victory.

Averaging 16.3 points per game, McDonald has been on fire recently, scoring at least 20 points in three of Whitman’s last four games. Against Lewis & Clark in an 87-80 victory, McDonald was playing as if he had the cheat codes by going 10-for-16 from the field and firing in a season-high 27 points.  He shined when it mattered most for Whitman as he made four 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the second half to help the Whitties rally from a nine-point deficit.

McDonald has shot the lights out so far in the early season as he leads Whitman with 20 3-pointers. He has accounted for 40 percent of Whitman’s total made 3-pointers this season. The Whitties have made 49 as a team, including 10 against Walla Walla. McDonald is 18th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (52.6).

Fortunately for Whitman, it’s been far from a one-man show this season.

Sophomore guard Tim Howell leads the team in scoring with an 18.1 point per game average. He has scored in double figures in every game this season. Howell opened the season by scoring 23 points against La Verne and 21 against Caltech. Howell is shooting an efficient 54.3 percent from the field (51-for-94). He’s also averaging 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Jack Stewart added 10 points in the win against Walla Walla, his second double-digit effort of the season. He scored 13 points in 13 minutes against Caltech this season. Senior Evan Martin is scoring at a 9.0 point per game clip while leading the team in rebounding (5.3). Martin scored a season-high 14 points in the win against Linfield. He’s a returning second-team All-Northwest Conference selection.

Whitman will remain at home this weekend when they host Millsaps (Saturday) and Redlands (Sunday).

Milestones galore at Augustana

Augustana Sports Information Director Dave Wrath was busy over the last seven days preparing scripts and celebrations as several major milestones were reached by players and coaches for the top-ranked Vikings (5-0).

Senior Ben Ryan reached 1,000 career points and Grey Giovanine became Augustana's winningest head coach last Saturday as the top-ranked Vikings defeated seventh-ranked and defending national champion UW-Stevens Point 81-58. The Vikings weren’t finished with celebrating special accomplishments as senior Hunter Hill entered the 1,000-point club in a 70-67 win over 20th-ranked Washington U.

Giovanine's 315th win at Augustana pushed him past Jim Borcherding as the school's winningest head coach. In his 17th season in Rock Island, he's compiled a record of 315-121 (.722). Borcherding went 314-99 (.760) from 1969-84. More impressive is Augustana defeated three consecutive nationally-ranked opponents to earn all 25 first-place votes in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25.

Maroon madness

The University of Chicago extended its winning streak to six games with an impressive 74-57 victory vs. Illinois Wesleyan on Monday night. The Maroons are outscoring their opponents by 17 points and winning the rebounding battle by 10 per game. The balanced Maroons had four players in double figures against IWU led by Alex Voss’ 18 points. Tyler Howard and Waller Perez had 15 points each. Howard dished five assists against IWU. The Maroons also sank a season-high 11 3-pointers in the victory.

Chicago recorded a significant 77-52 road win over Wheaton, which snapped an eight-game losing streak against Wheaton. It was also the Maroons’ first win at Wheaton’s King Arena since 1997. Perez finished with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Against Kalamazoo in a 75-63 victory, Voss scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Jake Fenlon and Blaine Crawford combined for 20 points off the bench to help the Maroons pick up their fifth-consecutive victory over the Hornets.

The balanced Maroons have been led this season by the scoring triumvirate of Voss, Perez and Jordan Smith are all averaging at least 11 points per game. Voss leads the team in rebounding at 8.2 per game. Defensively, they have limited the opposition to 39 percent shooting.

Chicago expected to enjoy success this season as it returned every member of its starting lineup from last season’s 16-9 team that finished third in the rugged University Athletic Association. The Maroons also bonded during the off-season when it spent two weeks in September touring New Zealand and Australia.

The win over IWU improved Chicago’s record against the CCIW to 3-1 on the season.

Chicago closes the semester with a trip to Albion on Saturday afternoon.

Griffin’s road show

In an odd scheduling scenario, the Trinity (Conn.) women’s basketball team played its first home game of the 2015-16 season last weekend. It was worth the wait as Trinity defeated Gordon, 70-37 behind 17 points and nine rebounds from Mackenzie Griffin, who has been a beast this season.

A 6-1 senior center, Griffin is devouring the competition so far this season averaging 19.2 points and 12.8 rebounds per outing while shooting 54 percent from the field. Griffin is 32nd nationally in scoring and 18th in rebounding. She has scored in double figures in every game this season and recorded seven double-doubles, which is fifth in the country. Griffin has pulled down at least 15 rebounds three times this season. She finished with a season best 19 rebounds in 51-45 victory over Eastern Nazarene.

A psychology major, Griffin has good genes as her parents, John and Dorothy, were tremendous athletes while they attended college. Her father played football at Colgate and mother played basketball at Providence.

Of course being away from cozy Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium hasn’t been an issue for Trinity, who have swooshed to an 8-1 start to the season, its best first semester record since the 2008-09 season. The only thing that the fans have missed this season has been Griffin’s sensational efforts.

Trinity has won three regular season tournaments in Vermont (Norwich), Massachusetts (Curry) and New York (Medgar Evers). Griffin has earned MVP honors in Medgar Evers’ Betty Shabazz Tournament and Norwich University’s Ed Hockenbury Classic.

Enjoying a 22.6 point margin of victory, five of its eight victories have been by double figures this season. The Bantoms are eighth nationally in scoring defense (47.3 points per game).

Senior guard Christina Ratti has been solid for the Bantams this season, averaging 7.3 points per contest. Ratti had 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists to lead the team to a 65-61 win over Norwich University in the Ed Hockenbury Women's Basketball Classic Finals last weekend. Raiti was named to the All-Tournament team. Senior Lexi Menard has contributed 5.7 points per outing this season. She’s also among the conference leaders in assists per game (3.6).

The Bantams have a 26-day layoff before returning to action at Rivier on January 7 and will not play at home again until January 22 when they host Colby. That begins a stretch in which Trinity will play six of seven games at home. 

Division III women’s national championship times set

For the first time in women’s basketball history, all three divisions of women’s basketball will decide national championships over a two-day span in the same venue. Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will be the home of the celebration, with all three national championships decided April 4-5.

The Division III championship will feature 64 teams competing at 16 first- and second- round non-predetermined sites on March 4-5. The advancing 16 teams will then play at four non-predetermined sectional sites on March 11-12. The four regional winners will advance to the semifinal round at Performance Arena on the campus of Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio, on March 19. The Division III national championship game will be part of a doubleheader on April 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, following the Division II national championship game, with tip time at approximately 6 p.m. ET.

Tickets for championship games in all three divisions are now available at www.NCAA.com/WBBTickets.

The unbeatens

As we approach the one-month mark of the season and head into Christmas, there are 16 perfect teams remaining on the men’s side. They are Eastern Nazarene, Amherst, Whitworth, Susquehanna, SUNY-Canton, John Carroll, Whitman, Swarthmore, Benedictine, Christopher Newport, Lancaster Bible, Carroll, Austin, NYU, Texas-Dallas and Augustana.

There are 24 perfect women’s squads: Albright, Rowan, Williams, Connecticut College, George Fox, Keene State, Muhlenberg, UW-Oshkosh, York (Pa.), Carnegie Mellon, UW-Whitewater, Scranton, St. Mary’s (Minn.), NYU, Hope, Amherst, Johnson & Wales, Bluffton, Thomas More, Texas-Tyler, Concordia (Wis.), Emory & Henry, PSU-Abington and Birmingham-Southern.

Help me

I am serving as the national columnist this season for D3hoops.com for a second season. To help with telling the best stories, delivering fun and insightful nuggets while providing teams the recognition they deserve, please add me to your email list for press releases and postgame releases at rob.knox@d3sports.com. Don’t worry about flooding my inbox. I am also going to try to get as many names into my column as possible. Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter @knoxrob1.

Around the Nation was writen by Rob Knox during the 2015-16 season. A former Division III Sports Information Director at Lincoln University, Rob Knox also worked at Coppin State, ESPN, Kutztown and at the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times. He was inducted into the Lincoln University Athletics Hall of Fame, named the CoSIDA Rising Star Award College Division winner and won three writing awards for various game stories including the 2007 D-III sectional triple-OT game between Guilford and Lincoln. In the past, he has also written articles for SLAM magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan, a graduate of Lincoln and is from Chester, Pa.