Feb. 17, 2007

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - Senior forward Tyler Best finished with a team-leading 11 points, including the go-ahead basket with 4:09 remaining, as visiting IPFW defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology, 52-47, in a men's basketball matchup of Division I independents Saturday afternoon.

Best finished as the only double-figure scorer for the Mastodons, who got eight points off the bench from Quintin Carouthers, while four different men scored seven points apiece in the low-scoring game.

NJIT lost despite a game-high 17 points off the bench from senior Marc Milbourne Swan, who barely missed a double-double, grabbing 9 rebounds. The Highlanders got a team season-best 15 rebounds from sophomore Nesho Milosevic.

Milbourne Swan's game-high 17 points on Saturday raised his career total to 1,145 and moved him up two more spots to 14th on the NJIT all-time career list. He passed Kevin Jackson ('92; 1,139) and Larry Tosato ('56; 1,143).

Best's layup with 4:09 left put the Mastodons on top for good and sparked an 8-0 run that put the game beyond the reach of the Highlanders, who did not score from the field after freshman Andrew Engel's basket with 10:58 remaining put them on top, 38-34.

NJIT scored nine more points in the game, but they all came from the foul line.

Led by Milosevic and Milbourne Swan, the Highlanders had a 42-29 rebounding advantage. However, that was somewhat offset by IPFW's 20-9 edge in points off turnovers.

Best collected eight of his points in the second half for IPFW, which trailed, 24-20, at halftime and quickly dropped into a 10-point deficit when NJIT's Kraig Peters hit two free throws at the 17:21 mark, giving his team a 32-22 lead.

IPFW took its first lead of the second half with 6:10 left and went on top for good on Best's layup that made it 43-42 with 4:09 remaining.

NJIT played without its go-to senior guard Clayton Barker, who is averaging a team-leading 12.6 points per game. Barker, who sustained a sprained knee less than three minutes into last Saturday's game vs. North Dakota State, is still recovering. He will miss Monday's game at Longwood, but is hopeful of a return by next Saturday's home game vs. Utah Valley State.

The Highlanders, who have played their last three games at home and have two more home games set for next weekend, will head to Farmville, VA, for a 7 pm game at Longwood Monday night. When the teams met on January 10 in Newark, NJIT was a 59-55 winner.