Jan. 13, 2007

Box Score

FORT WAYNE, IN - Led by four double-figure scorers--two starters and two off the bench--IPFW dealt visiting New Jersey Institute of Technology an 82-65 men's basketball defeat Saturday afternoon.

The Highlanders had just six previous games in which their foes reached the 70s and NJIT had held four opponents under 60, including the last game, when the Highlanders defeated Longwood, 59-55.

IPFW, whose full formal name is Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne, scored 41 points in each half on Saturday. Most notable for the Mastodons were magnificent free throw shooting (25-for-28; 89.3 percent) and near-flawless protection of the ball (five turnovers in the game--one in the first half).

Up by nine, 58-49, with 11:44 left, IPFW's final push left it with a 17-point final winning margin.

The top scorer for IPFW was forward DeWitt Scott, who came off the bench for 17 points, followed by starter Jaraun Burrows' 15 points. Starting center Tyler Best had 14 points and a game-high 5 assists, while junior sub Demetrius Johnson also scored 14--all in the second half.

The Highlanders had three double-figure scorers, led by junior Kraig Peters' 17 points. Nesho Milosevic made 7 of 11 shots, finishing with 14 points. Senior co-captain Marc Milbourne Swan, who has flourished recently, scored 10 points at IPFW and has 36 points in the last three games.

Courcy Magnus and Dan Stonkus each scored 8 points for NJIT and Stonkus matched his career rebounding high with a game-best 11. Milosevic pulled down 8 rebounds, joining Stonkus in keying a 38-23 NJIT rebounding advantage.

IPFW led after an entertaining first half, 41-36. Best, the Mastodons' burly 6-9 senior, led all scorers at halftime, with 10 points, followed by nine from Scott and eight by Jakari Johnson. Magnus gave the Highlanders a boost off the bench, topping the NJIT first-half scoring list, with eight points. Milbourne Swan had 7 points.

Trailing by five points at the half, NJIT likely needed to slow IPFW's scoring pace, since the Highlanders had not scored more than 66 points in any of their previous games and had held the opposition under 56 points in each of their three wins this season.

However, IPFW improved its shooting in the second half, connecting at a 59 percent rate from the field (13-22), while maintaining its tremendous accuracy at the foul line (11-12 in the second half after 14-16 in the first half) and taking impeccable care of the ball (four second-half turnovers).

Even so, the Mastodons did not expand their lead into double figures until Burrows' layup made the score 53-43 at the 13:18 mark, capping a 7-2 spurt in the preceding 1:23.

IPFW got the lead into double figures for good, 60-49, on Demetrius Johnson's layup with 11:22 left, sparking a 7-0 spurt in a span of just under two minutes.

IPFW, which will join the Mid-Continent Conference next year, is in its final season as an NCAA Division I independent. NJIT, which is in its first year competing as a Division I independent, is now 1-1 against DI independents, having beaten Longwood at home and now having lost at IPFW.

The Highlanders, who have 10 games remaining this season against other Division I independents, will host IPFW in a return contest on February 17 in Newark.

Next up for NJIT is a visit to Philadelphia and La Salle of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Tuesday at 7 pm.