--Courtesy of NJCU Athletics

NEW YORK --- Lavrone Green’s heroics have yielded the top award in NCAA Division III basketball. Green, the hero of then No. 19-ranked New Jersey City University's men's basketball rally from 20 points down to win December 16's battle of NCAA Tournament teams, has been selected the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division (USBWA) Division III National Player of the Week it was announced on December 19.
 
Green, a transfer junior shooting guard, is the first player in NJCU's illustrious men's basketball history to ever garner the national recognition after earlier being named one of four national finalists for the award—only the second Gothic Knight to do so (Chinwe Wosu(Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter), December 2015). The USBWA award is for week five of the 2017 season.
 
The top national accolade comes on the heels of three other awards. Green, a 6-foot-2, 187-pounder majoring in Criminal Justice, had previously been voted the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Player of the Week, Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division II-III co-Player of the Week and New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week
 
In NJCU's 81-80 come-from-behind road win at defending GNAC champion Albertus Magnus on December 16, Green sparked NJCU from a 20-point deficit midway through the second half, hitting a game-tying shot with 38 seconds remaining before playing the role of hero when he drilled a running one-handed straightaway three-pointer to beat the buzzer and win the game.
 
Behind Green's Gothic Knight career high 34 points, NJCU improved its record to 9-0 to start a season for the first time in the 85-year history of the program. NJCU climbed two spots to No. 17 in NCAA Division III basketball in the D3hoops.com poll yesterday.
 
"This award means a lot to me because I came here to better myself and to be a part of a great program and that decision has already been beneficial. It's a great honor to be recognized," said Green.
 
"Knowing we are the first team in NJCU history to be 9-0 is big too. We are playing really well as a team. It doesn't matter who we play. We give it our all every game. All of our hard work during the offseason is paying off."
 
It puts an exclamation mark on a remarkable comeback story for Green. The NJAC does not give a Comeback Player of the Year, but if it did, Green would likely be the frontrunner. In the 2014-15 season, he was among the top freshmen in the league while playing at Montclair State, where he averaged 14.7 points. But in May, 2015, he suffered a patellar fracture (broken kneecap) during an offseason rec basketball game and he took the 2015-16 season off to rehab. He attempted to make a comeback last year at Ramapo College but played just 51 minutes in 14 games for the Roadrunners in 2016-17 before transferring this year to NJCU.
 
"It just feels good," said Green. "I've worked so hard and I'm back to where I used to be. I dealt with a lot of adversity and a lot of questions. Was I going to be the same kid I was at Montclair, better, or worse? I had a lot of different feelings moving from school to school. I didn't want to prove people right that I lost a step. So it feels good to show that I still have it."
 
In a game where other starters struggled, NJCU was picked up by Green, who scored 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting including 26 points in the second half. He shot 4-of-9 from three-point distance, including the game-winner, and was 6-of-8 from the line in 34 minutes. The 34 points matched the most he has scored in any collegiate game since 2014-15 when he played at Montclair State. His 34 points were twice as much as the rest of the starting lineup combined.
 
NJCU's furious comeback reached a boiling point when Green drilled a three from the left corner with 38 seconds left to tie it at 78-78 but Albertus scored with 20 seconds remaining to go back up by two, 80-78. After a timeout, NJCU inbounded with 5.2 seconds remaining. Green took the inbounds pass, narrowly avoided the midcourt line while being bumped, spun past a defender and hit a running-one-handed straight away three a foot behind the line at the buzzer. After a brief review by the officials, NJCU prevailed in miracle fashion.
 
After falling behind by 20 with 11:46 remaining, NJCU outscored the Falcons 34-15 the rest of the game, including a 15-2 run. Green scored 19 of the 34, shooting 7-of-10 overall and 3-of-4 from three-point range down the stretch. Green also hit jumpers with 4:18 and 3:37 to go to make it 74-68. Green scored on a fast break with 1:01 left to trim it to 77-75.
 
Discussing the anatomy of the winning shot, Green said: "the play before, the ball was knocked out of bounds. I told coach [Marc Brown] I felt good and I want to run the play again. Sam [Toney] gave me the ball back. I got nudged but managed to keep my balance and I drove past them, looked up for a split second and saw 1.3 seconds on the clock. I knew I had to shoot quickly and when I looked up again it just felt good coming out of my hands."