Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Lehigh is off to its best men's basketball start since 1925-26 and the Mountain Hawks made NJIT their latest victim in a 66-38 New Year's Eve win Wednesday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The Mountain Hawks, who went 13-1 for the entire 1925-26 season, did not take long gaining the upper hand against NJIT in their bid to start this season at 9-3.
Junior forward Zahir Carrington scored 12 seconds in and then added three more points at 18:08 on an emphatic dunk and then a free throw awarded when he was fouled on his way up.
In all, the Mountain Hawks scored the game's first 12 points and led by at least seven points for the rest the of the game.
Sophomore guard Michael Ojo came off the bench for a game-high 14 points, leading three double-figure scorers for Lehigh, which also got 12 points from sophomore guard Rob Keefer and 11 from Carrington.
Freshman guard Isaiah Wilkerson (12 points) was the only double-figure scorer for NJIT, which struggling to score all day, shot just 11-for-50 from the field in the game against a Lehigh defense that had held six of its previous 11 opponents under 40 percent shooting.
The Highlanders finally got on the board when Justin Garris made a short jump shot with 13:50 left in the first half, but Lehigh soon pushed its lead to 20-7 after a pair of three-point baskets by Dave Buchberger, the latest at the 10:24 mark.
NJIT, which relies on its defense to remain competitive, then blanked the visitors for the next 6:02. However, the Highlanders could not make Lehigh pay on the other end, managing just six points in the same span.
Leading 20-13 despite the extended scoreless spell, the Mountain Hawks pulled away again, as Ojo's layup with 4:22 remaining began a 10-4 Lehigh run to close the half, which ended at 30-17.
Carrington's eight points led all scorers at the half, followed by seven from Ojo and six from Buchberger. Wilkerson's six points topped NJIT.
Lehigh quickly extended its lead to 18 points with a 5-0 start in the first 1:37 of the second half.
NJIT whittled the deficit down to 12 points, 39-27, after Jheryl Wilson made a pair of free throws with 9:19 left. But the Mountain Hawks answered with an 11-3 spurt that began on a rare four-point play by Ojo, who was fouled in the act of making a three-point basket from the right corner with nine minutes left.
Lehigh, which got assists on 18 of its 23 field goals, got a game-high nine assists out of Marquis Hall, who is 18th in Patriot League history in that category less than halfway through his junior year. Sophomore backup Prentice Small added seven assists.
The Mountain Hawks also had a 46-32 rebounding advantage, paced by Phil Anderson's seven rebounds. Gary Garris, who also grabbed seven boards, led the Highlanders.
NJIT will open the 2009 portion of the season with a long trip to face Vermont in Burlington on Saturday afternoon at one o'clock.
The Catamounts, who defeated the Highlanders early last season in the first game between the programs, are off to an 8-4 start this season.
