Box score
PHILADELPHIA—NJIT did a lot of things well against Hartford. But the Highlanders struggled far too often in the vital matter of putting the ball in the basket and the result was a 50-38 loss to Hartford in the opening game of the Liberty Bracket of the Philly Hoop Group Classic at the Palestra on Friday afternoon.
NJIT's defense held Hartford to 36 percent (15-42) shooting from the field for the game, including just 4-for-16 in the second half and the Highlanders had more rebounds (37-33) and fewer turnovers (16-18). But the Highlanders made just over 25 percent of their shots from the field (14-55) and got only 19 points in each half.
Hartford's Joe Zeglinski, a native Philadelphian, celebrated a return to his hometown by dropping in a game-high 17 points, including 14 in a first half that saw him connect on four of eight three-point tries. He was supported by senior point guard Jaret von Rosenberg, who finished with 12 points along with a game-best six assists.
The Hawks, who are celebrating 25 years in NCAA Division I, won 18 games last season to establish a school record for wins in a season at the highest level. With all five starters back, they were picked to finish third in a preseason poll of America East Conference head coaches,
The win over NJIT lifted the Hawks to a somewhat deceptive 2-4 on the season. Three of their early losses have come against UConn, Rhode Island and Penn State.
NJIT had just one double-figure scorer, sophomore #Jheryl Wilson#, who matched his career high with 16 points (scored 16 against Army last December 6). Wilson also made a game-high three steals on the defensive end against Hartford.
One of the good things for the Highlanders (0-4) was their improvement on the boards. Outrebounded badly in the first two games, NJIT has outrebounded its last two opponents, including a 37-33 advantage against the Hawks on Friday.
NJIT captain Gary Garris collected a career-high 12 rebounds--the best individual total by a Highlander this season. But it was a team effort, as all eight players who appeared for NJIT got at least one rebound.
Senior forward Michael Turner was Hartford's top rebounder, picking up eight boards against the Highlanders.
The first half featured good ball movement against solid halfcourt defense by both teams. The result was a lot of methodical possessions that finished with open jump shots, many from three-point range. Hartford had 10 assists on its 11 baskets, seven of which were three-pointers. And NJIT got assists on all seven of its baskets and would have had more, except that the Highlanders missed a lot of open threes.
The main difference after 20 minutes was that Hartford made more of its open three-pointers than did NJIT and the Hawks led at the break, 30-19. Hartford shot 7-for-15 on three-pointers, while NJIT was 4-for-17 on threes.
Zeglinski, who made 103 three-pointers in 2007-08 as a first-team all-America East honoree, poured in four first-half treys himself against the Highlanders. Remarkably, the Hawks shot better from beyond the arc (7-15) than did from inside it (4-11).
In other areas that are usually reflected in the score, the halftime rebound totals stood at 18 for Hartford and 17 for NJIT, while the turnovers were nine by NJIT and eight for the Hawks. And each team took 26 shots from the field and two free throws in the opening 20 minutes.
NJIT, which fell behind 10-2, in the opening 6:11, fought back and closed to within four, at 18-14, after a Teddy Schickel layup with 8:30 left in the half.
But Zeglinski hit three-pointers on the next two Hartford possessions, sparking a 9-0 run by the Hawks that put them in control.
Hartford built a 30-19 halftime lead that featured 14 points for Zeglinski, while Wilson's nine points topped the Highlanders at the break.
Perhaps no stretch better illustrated the difficulty connected to NJIT's scoring woes than did the first 5:32 of the second half. Trailing by 11 points at halftime, NJIT held Hartford to just one point through more than five minutes to open the second half.
Despite that fine sustained defensive showing, the Highlanders managed just five points of their own, reducing the 11-point halftime deficit only slightly to seven, 31-24, after Garris made the first of two free throws with 14:40 left.
When Hartford finally got a field goal, a layup by Turner with 14:28 remaining, it began a 12-1 Hawk spurt that removed all doubt about the outcome over the next 6:24, pushing the lead to 43-25 after a rare fast-break layup for Genesis Maciel with 8:48 left.
On the plus side for the Highlanders, they held Hartford to just 20 second-half points on 4-for-16 shooting from the field. And Zeglinski, who had done so much damage in the first half, scored three points in 15 minutes of second-half action.
With 10 offensive rebounds in the second half to go with 10 Hartford turnovers, the Highlanders ended up with 29 shots to 16 for the Hawks over the final 20 minutes. But it was to little effect on the scoreboard, since NJIT made only seven of its 29 tries and Hartford somewhat offset its 10 points from the field by shooting 10-for-12 from the foul line.
NJIT will warp up its visit to Philadelphia with another Liberty Bracket game at noon on Saturday against Monmouth, which dropped Saturday afternoon's other opening-round game to Niagara, 71-48.
Saturday's game, which will be televised live throughout the region on Comcast cable systems (CN8), will mark the first men's basketball meeting between the two New Jersey schools since 1973-74, when both schools competed as members of the NAIA.
Monmouth was known as Monmouth College and is now called Monmouth University and NJIT was called Newark College of Engineering.
The schools played regularly between 1958 and 1974 and Monmouth won 15 of the 17 games in the all-time series. NCE got its wins in 1963-64 and in 1964-65.
