The SJR basketball team was back in action on Coach Michael J. Doherty Court on Thursday night. SJR hosted the Bergen Tech Knights who came into the game 3-3.

The Green Knights entered Thursday's contest looking for their first win of the season. Bergen Tech jumped out to a quick 5-0 start and controlled the game early. The Knights continued the pressure and hit several three pointers to go up 16-9 going into the second quarter. The momentum continued for the Knights who continued to score and led 21-9 with 5:49 remaining in the first half. From here, the Green Knights took over.

Senior Jeremiah Noble set the tone with tough, physical play down low. He fought for rebounds, scored tough buckets, and knocked down a couple free throws to lead SJR on a massive run. Noble combined with senior Tom Diomedi, junior Julian Paradise, and junior RJ Sainte-Rose to give the Green Knights a 27-21 lead at halftime. 

The Green Knights came out in the third and continued the momentum. Diomedi knocked down a three-pointer to cap off a rampant 21-0 run by SJR that started when they trailed by 12 early in the second quarter. SJR outscored Bergen Tech 15 to 11 in quarter 3 to take a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter. Julian Paradise knocked down several threes in the third quarter including a deep buzzer beater to give his team all the momentum going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was perhaps the best defensive showing of the night for Coach Davis' team as they held the Knights to just six points in the final 8 minutes. SJR was able to close out the game and earn their first victory by a score of 52-38. The team was led in scoring by Julian Paradise who finished the night with his highest scoring game of the season, with 19 points. Seniors Tom Diomedi and Jeremiah Noble were also key factors as they finished with 14 and 10 points respectively. SJR will now turn their attention to Saturday, as they travel to take on St Mary's (Rutherford), as they look to make it back-to-back wins.