Dec. 1, 2006

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - Senior guard Jon Sheets scored 19 points to lead a balanced offense for visiting Maine, as the Black Bears defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology, 68-58, in men's college basketball Friday night.

Sheets, who scored 14 of his points in the first half, was one of three double-figure scorers for Maine, which had two additional players with 9 points each. The other double-figure scorers were freshman guards Junior Bernal and Mark Socoby, with 11 points apiece. Kevin Reed and Phil Tchekane Bofia each added 9 points. Reed, a senior guard, led the Black Bears on the boards with 8 rebounds. He also led the team with 4 assists.

The Black Bears won their second straight and their fourth in the last five games to even their season record at 4-4 after starting the season 0-3.

NJIT, 2-5, lost despite a game-high 22 points for senior guard Clayton Barker, who fired in 14 of his points in the second half after playing just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Senior forward Marc Milbourne Swan (10 points) was the only other Highlander in double figures.

NJIT freshman center Dan Stonkus took game honors in rebounds, with 10, and blocked shots, with 3.

Sheets hit three three-point baskets in the opening 3:50, accounting for his team's first nine points and the Black Bears eventually built a 15-5 lead on Socoby's layup with 13:19 left in the first half.

But NJIT fought back and led by two, before Sheets hit a three-pointer on the final shot of the first half, staking his team to a 29-28 lead at the break.

The visitors still led by two points with 17:22 remaining when they went on a 12-4 spurt over the next 3:48, capped by Christian Cavanaugh's put-back layup, making it 45-35, with 13:34 left.

The Highlanders scored the next four points, trimming the deficit to six, 45-39, with 12:44 on the clock, but Maine put the game out of the reach by outscoring the home team, 12-3, over the next 5:40. Ahead by its biggest margin of the night--15, 57-42, at the 7:04 mark, Maine led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.

NJIT will be back home on Monday night, hosting Lafayette in a 7 pm game in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.