Box score
NEW YORK—Senior Jason Miller dominated on the inside and his teammates shot 10-for-19 from the outside on three-point attempts as Columbia, which built a 20-point halftime lead, claimed a 73-50 men's basketball victory over visiting NJIT Friday night.
Columbia, which snapped a three-game losing streak with Friday's win over the Highlanders, took control with a well-executed first half that included 18-for-33 (55 percent) overall field goal shooting and a sterling assists-to-turnovers ratio of 13-to-3.
Miller, who finished as the game leader in scoring (16 points) and rebounding (10), picked up 11 of his points in a first-half that saw the Lions claim a 43-23 halftime lead.
Columbia freshman Noruwa Agbo added nine first-half points with an unusual stat line that saw him make all three of his three-point attempts while misfiring on all five of his shots from inside the arc. Niko Scott scored eight points in the first half, making three of four shots, including 2-for-3 on threes. Dan Stonkus scored all six of his points for the game in the first half to pace NJIT at the break.
Overall, the Lions shot 52 percent (28-54) from the field, including 10-for-19 on three-point tries. Scott, the sharp-shooting junior, joined Miller as the other double-figure scorer for Columbia, netting 15 points on 4-for-5 field goal shooting (3-for-4 on three-pointers) and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
NJIT's game scoring leader was freshman Isaiah Wilkerson, who finished with 13 points, along with three assists and three steals. Joining the Highlanders without so much as a practice, Wilkerson scored three points in his NJIT debut on December 20. But he has reached double-figure scoring in all six games since.
Sophomore Justin Garris was the Highlanders' other double-figure scorer, collecting 11 points. And Paulius Skema came off the NJIT bench for a team-leading seven rebounds.
NJIT scored the game's first four points on layups by Stonkus and Gary Garris, but Columbia answered with a layup for Miller and then a three-pointer by Agho that put the Lions ahead to stay 2:24 into the game.
The Columbia lead stood at 8-6 after NJIT's Justin Garris scored with 14:44 left, but the home team went on a 12-2 run over the next 2:51 for a 20-8 lead. Freshman Steve Egee, who came in averaging just under two points per game, scored seven points in the 12-2 spurt.
The closest NJIT got the rest of the way was a seven-point deficit, 24-17, after Skema made a layup at the 7:44 mark. But the Highlanders got just six more points in the half and Columbia pushed its lead to 20, the last three points coming on a three-point shot at the buzzer for Scott.
Columbia scored the first four points of the second half and only briefly did the Highlanders bring their deficit under 20 in the second half.
Trailing by 24, NJIT got a steal and dunk from Wilkerson with 15:44 left and then a three-pointer from Mike Maczko 35 seconds later at 15:09 to make it 47-28. But Scott hit two free throws 18 seconds later and the Lions led by at least 21 points the rest of the way. Maczko's eight points were a season-high for the freshman.
NJIT, which has seen its depth strained due to injuries to regular starting guards Jheryl Wilson and Brendon Lyn, is off until Wednesday when the Highlanders visit Loyola of Maryland in a 7 pm contest in Baltimore.
