Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Senior swingman Gary Lee scored 12 of his team-best 17 points at the foul line for visiting Maryland Eastern Shore in a 73-67 men's college basketball win over NJIT Wednesday night at the Prudential Center.
Lee, who was one of four double-figure scorers for the Hawks, paced his team's 28-13 scoring advantage at the foul line in a game it won by six points overall. UMES attempted 44 foul shots to 20 for NJIT, which was whistled 30 times to 19 for the visiting team.
Lee was supported by junior forward Neal Pitt's double-double (17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds), 12 points from freshman guard Jamie Boyer and 11 off the bench from sophomore guard Josh Bright.
NJIT lost despite a game-high and personal career-high 24 points from freshman guard Isaiah Wilkerson, plus 17 points, 7 rebounds and career-best 7 assists for sophomore guard Jheryl Wilson. Junior forward Gary Garris added 11 points for the Highlanders.
In addition to its 28-13 scoring advantage at the foul line, Maryland Eastern Shore outrebounded the home team, 42-33, and shot 9-for-16 (56 percent) on three-point shots after entering the game shooting under 28 percent from long distance in its previous 17 games. Boyer was the three-point leader against NJIT, connecting on four of five tries.
Remarkably, contrasted with its 56-percent accuracy on three-pointers, Maryland Eastern Shore made just nine of its 33 two-point attempts (27 percent). However, the misses were largely offset by the Hawks' ability to retrieve their own misses. They got back exactly half of their misses (19 offensive rebounds to 19 defensive rebounds for NJIT) which is unacceptably high from the Highlanders' point of view.
Many of those offensive rebounds resulted in fouls in the act of shooting in close to the basket, which helped account for the disparity in total fouls and free throws in the visitors' favor.
Lee, who got five of his nine rebounds on the offensive end, shot 12-for-15 at the foul line and Pitt, who got six of his 11 boards on offense, was 8-for-11 on free throws.
Wilkerson and Wilson carried most of the load for the Highlanders with their combined 41 points and the two guards were also the individual rebounding leaders for NJIT with seven apiece.
Wilkerson, who was not enrolled in NJIT when the Highlanders lost 46-42 at Maryland Eastern Shore on December 6, has now reached double-figure scoring in the last 11 of his 12 career college games. His previous single-game scoring high had been 16.
Wilson, who had his only career double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the earlier loss to Maryland Eastern Shore, put together his third consecutive strong game with Wednesday night's effort.
He had a career-best 26 points along with six rebounds in last Wednesday's win over Bryant. He followed with 20 points and six boards at Longwood and then got 17 points, 7 rebounds and the 7 assists against UMES. He is averaging 21 points and better than six rebounds over the last three contests.
Although this year's two games between Maryland Eastern Shore and NJIT were different in that the first meeting was a defensive struggle and the second one was more free-flowing, the two teams proved to be closely-matched both times.
Both have improved in the nearly two months since they first met, but the Hawks were able to score close come-from-behind wins both times. Wednesday's game featured 11 lead changes and three ties.
NJIT, which led for much of the first half, held its biggest lead at 24-18 with 7:33 left in the first half, but Maryland Eastern Shore outscored the Highlanders, 13-3 the rest of the half for a 31-27 advantage at the break. Bright hit two three-pointers and Boyer made one to account for nine of the closing 13 points. Pitt and Bright of UMES and Wilson and Wilkerson of NJIT all had eight points apiece.
The Hawks extended their lead to seven early in the second half, but NJIT came back and Wilkerson, who scored 16 of his game-high 24 points after the intermission, made a three-pointer that gave the Highlanders a 45-44 lead with 11:07 to play.
However, after misses by each team, Boyer made a three-pointer of his own, putting the visitors on top to stay, 47-45, with 9:58 remaining.
Although the Highlanders never regained the lead, they made several pushes. But Maryland Eastern Shore was able to push back each time, keeping NJIT at arm's length until the final buzzer.
Maryland Eastern Shore eventually extended its lead to 10, 63-53, after a pair of Lee free throws with 3:46 left. Still down nine with 2:31 left, NJIT went on a 6-1 spurt and closed to within four, 67-63, after Brendon Lyn banked home a driving layup with 1:02 remaining.
But Lee made four free throws and Marc Davis made two in a 6-for-6 foul shooting finish for UMES in the last minute to secure the win for the Hawks.
Maryland Eastern Shore has won three of its last four and five of its last eight after starting the season 1-9.
The Highlanders will play their remaining 10 games against fellow Division I Independents, beginning with a 7 pm (CST) game at Chicago State on Saturday.