Dec. 1, 2007

Box Score

ORONO, ME - The outside temperature was in the low 20s and it wasn't especially warmer inside for NJIT, which lost to host Maine, 86-58, in men's basketball early Saturday afternoon.

NJIT's Nesho Milosevic had his first double-double of the season, highlighted by 16 rebounds--the most ever for NJIT in a Division I game, surpassing his own mark of 15 set last season against IPFW on February 17.

Milosevic was also the only double-figure scorer for the Highlanders, finishing with 18 points, 14 in the second half.

Maine had three double-figure scorers, led by sophomore guard Junior Bernal's 19 points. His backcourt mate, Jason Hight, added 12 points and 6-foot-9, 300-pound sophomore Brian Andre added 11 points from the center spot.

Hight was the only Black Bear to log more than 30 minutes, so Maine also got 29 points from its bench players. One of those reserves, freshman Troy Barnies, came in for a team-leading eight rebounds.

The game was played in Maine's Harold Alfond Sports Arena, which doubles as the home of Maine hockey. With the hockey ice underneath the basketball floor and the ambient temperature kept low to prevent the hockey ice from melting, NJIT was never able to generate any figurative heat in the noon start.

Maine, which never trailed, scored the first six points and took an early 8-1 lead before NJIT freshman Paulius Skema scored the next four points to pull NJIT to within three, 8-5, with 14:12 left in the first half.

Maine responded with five unanswered points in 25 seconds and NJIT did not get closer for the rest of the game.

Maine took its first double-digit lead, 17-7, on Andre's put-back layup with 11:52 left and the Black Bears pushed their advantage into double figures permanently when Bernal scored on a driving layup, making it 21-10 with 9:02 left in the half.

By the time the half was over, NJIT trailed, 39-20, having shot 4-for-23 from the field and 11-for-14 at the foul line.

The top scorer through 20 minutes for NJIT was the freshman Skema, who shot 5-for-6 at the foul line and had seven points--two shy of his game career-high nine, set against another northern New England school, Vermont, on November 20 in Newark.

Andre, the burly Maine center, had a game-leading nine points at halftime. He was one of six Black Bears with at least four points at the break.

NJIT, which had avoided deep halftime holes in the previous two games, came out of the locker room faced with a 19-point deficit.

Faced with the daunting task of attempting a big comeback, the Highlanders turned up their intensity level in all phases and outscored the home team, 6-2, in the first 2:01 and still had outscored Maine in the second half, 19-16, when NJIT freshman Justin Garris converted a three-point play with 10:48 left.

By that time, however, NJIT already had 10 team fouls, meaning Maine would shoot two foul shots on every foul for the last 10:33, making a comeback even more improbable.

And there were plenty of fouls called on both sides, as the teams combined for 33 fouls and 48 free throws in the second half alone. The game totals were 54 fouls and 73 free throws.

With NJIT having taken a modest bite out of Maine's lead to close to within 16, 55-39, after the Garris three-point play, the Black Bears went on a 9-0 run over the next 1:21, capped by Bernal's steal and dunk that put Maine up, 64-39, with 9:27 left.

The Highlanders later closed to within 22 points, 73-51, on a Milosevic layup off of a penetration and drop-off pass from freshman Jheryl Wilson with 4:59 on the clock.

NJIT, which will fly back to Newark from Bangor, ME, on Sunday, will turn around and visit Lafayette in Easton, PA on Monday at 7 pm. At the end of that game, the Highlanders will have played six games in 13 days.