Feb. 10, 2007

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - With his team's two leading scorers injured in the first half Saturday, New Jersey Institute of Technology freshman Dan Stonkus stepped forward with a career-high 14 points. But visiting North Dakota State had too much firepower for the Highlanders and the visitors scored an 80-57 win in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Sophomore guard Ben Woodside scored a game-high 22 points for North Dakota State, leading four starters in double-figures, as the Bison boosted their season record to 15-7. One of their previous wins came at Marquette, which is ranked 11th in the latest Associated Press national poll.

On Saturday, North Dakota State shot 57 percent (30-53) from the field, including 66 percent (16-24) in the second half. The Bison also made 16 of 20 free throws in the game.

After Woodside, Mike Nelson, also a sophomore guard, finished with 18 points, followed by senior forward Andre Smith (17 points) and sophomore forward Brett Winkelman (15). Nelson, who shot 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 on three-pointers, also led all rebounders, with eight, and handed out a game-high 6 assists, with just one turnover in 33 minutes.

The Highlanders were dealt a severe early blow when senior guard Clayton Barker, their leading scorer for the season (13 ppg), sustained a knee injury less than three minutes into the contest and did not return. Barker was coming off a season-high 27 points in Thursday's win over South Dakota State and had already scored a basket and assisted on another when he was lost for the day in Saturday's game.

Also injured in the first half was Kraig Peters, who wrenched his shoulder on a fall to the floor late in the period. Peters, who came in averaging 11.5 points, returned in the second half, but was clearly bothered by the sore shoulder.

With the team's two top scorers down, it was up to others to come through and Stonkus, the 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman answered the call, scoring 12 first-half points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. He finished the game with 14 points, five more than his previous single-game high of nine.

Also stepping up was redshirt freshman Michael Manning, who scored 10 first-half points and finished with 13, matching his personal high, set just a week ago at Texas-Pan American. Manning shot 5-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-6 on three-pointers. Stonkus led the NJIT rebounders, with seven.

NJIT, which led, 6-4, when Barker was hurt at the 17:02 mark of the first half, hung in throughout the first half, led by Stonkus and Manning and never trailed by more than eight points through the opening 20 minutes.

The halftime score was 35-28 for the visitors, paced by Woodside's 13 points. Stonkus had 12 and Manning had 10 for NJIT at the half.

As quality teams often do, North Dakota State asserted control on both ends at the start of the second half. On defense, NDSU allowed the Highlanders just three points in the opening 6:42 of the second half.

By the time NJIT's Courcy Magnus hit a three-pointer with 13:18 left, the Bison had built a 49-31 lead, getting their 47th through 49th points on Woodside's traditional three-point play with 13:49 remaining.

Two possessions after Magnus made his first three-pointer, he hit another, pulling the Highlanders to within 14 points of the lead, 51-37, with 12:18 left, but they didn't get any closer.

NJIT is off for a week until Saturday, February 17 at 4 pm, when it hosts IPFW in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. That game is part of the only doubleheader of the 2006-07 season, with the 4 pm game preceded by a 2 pm women's game between NJIT and Longwood.

The injured Highlanders, Barker and Peters, will be evaluated to determine the extent of their injuries. Barker, as noted, played just three minutes. Peters returned to play 12 minutes in the second half.

The intercollegiate game was preceded in the morning by the annual men's basketball alumni game, which had approximately 30 participants.