Feb. 19, 2007

Box Score

FARMVILLE, VA - Forwards Nesho Milosevic and Marc Milbourne Swan combined for 40 points and 18 rebounds and freshman point guard Andrew Engel had one of his best games of the season, leading shorthanded New Jersey Institute of Technology to a 78-74 win at Longwood Monday night.

The Highlanders, who dressed just nine men for the road game at fellow NCAA Division I independent Longwood, faced further adversity in Monday's game and responded with a season-high 78 points, shooting 15-for-29 (51.7 percent) from the field in each half. NJIT's previous single-game scoring high this season came in a 67-62 home win over South Dakota State on February 8.

Milosevic, the sophomore forward, was brilliant, posting a double-double on a career-high 21 points, plus 10 rebounds. He shot 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-5 at the foul line.

Milbourne Swan finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds, making nine of his 13 shots from the field. He scored 15 of his points in the second half, as NJIT overcame a four-point halftime deficit to score the comeback win.

Engel scored 15 points--one shy of his season high--continually getting into the lane for pullup jump shots in the paint, along with a strong floor game that saw him hand out four assists, with just one turnover.

Longwood, which has lost both meetings this season against NJIT (59-55 on January 10 in Newark), fell on Monday despite a game-high 26 points for Maurice Sumter, who was playing his final career home game. Kirk Williams came off the bench for 19 points.

NJIT, which has had two players--Johnathan Dixon and Kyle Edwards--sidelined for the season without ever appearing in a game, was reduced to nine healthy men by recent injuries that sidelined reserve forward Brett Johnson and then senior Clayton Barker, the Highlanders' top scorer for the season.

Barker scored 27 in the win over South Dakota State and was injured less than three minutes into the next game against North Dakota State. He has now missed the next two full games.

With just nine men in uniform, the Highlanders were presented with more difficulty Monday when they piled up 14 team fouls, with Engel and Dan Stonkus collecting three apiece and three other men drawing two fouls each.

On the other side, Longwood was whistled for seven fouls and the result was a first-half foul shot disparity that saw the Lancers make 15 of 20 free throws, while NJIT was 2-for-3.

As a result, the Highlanders trailed at the half, 38-34, despite outscoring the home team from the field, 32-23. Milosevic had 13 points and 6 rebounds in the half, while Sumter scored 10 for Longwood.

Longwood expanded on its halftime lead early in the second half, going up, 44-36, when Lamar Barrett scored with 17:16 left.

However, the Highlanders responded with a 13-3 run over the next 2:42. Milbourne Swan had eight points in the spurt and his layup put NJIT on top, 49-47, with 13:34 remaining.

The Highlanders continued the push to 23-5 over 6:58, going up, 59-49, on Engel's jump shot at the 10:18 mark.

Having lost control, Longwood was not done, however. The Lancers' eight-point lead having been converted to a 10-point deficit in just under seven minutes, Longwood fought back and closed to within two points, 64-62, on Sumter's layup with 3:49 left.

Milbourne Swan's putback layup, an Engel layup and 6-for-6 free throw shooting pushed the NJIT lead back to nine, 74-65, with 36 seconds left.

Longwood, which had made two three-pointers through the first 39:24 of the game, connected on three of them in the last 36 seconds. However, the Highlanders made four free throws in the same span to hold on.

One of the equalizers for the second half from the first, was the fact that NJIT outscored Longwood at the line, 13-6, over the last 20 minutes after the 15-2 deficit in the first half. Where the first-half fouls had been 14 for NJIT to 7 for Longwood, the second half totals were Longwood 13, NJIT 7.

There was also a swing in turnovers. In the first half, NJIT had 10 miscues to three for Longwood, leading to a 13-2 points off turnovers advantage for the home team. In the second half, NJIT committed six turnovers to nine for Longwood and the final points off turnovers were nearly even, with the Lancers holding a slim 17-16 edge.

NJIT will play its final home weekend of the season on Saturday and Monday, starting with a 2 pm game on February 24 in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center against Utah Valley State.