Box score
JERSEY CITY, NJ—Jeron Belin scored two putback baskets, Nick Leon hit a three-pointer, and Wesley Jenkins hit four straight free throws, sparking Saint Peter's to a late 11-0 spurt that accounted for all of the victorious Peacocks' 11-point final cushion in a hard-fought 65-54 men's basketball win over visiting NJIT Wednesday night
Saint Peter's led by just two points, 50-48, when Isaiah Wilkerson hit a three-point basket for the Highlanders with 4:56 left in the game. But Belin kept NJIT at bay with a rebound and basket on the home team's next possession.
Leon, who finished with 14 points, made his biggest basket of the game, a three-pointer that gave the Peacocks even more breathing room, 55-48, with 2:18 left. And Belin, who had a shot blocked by NJIT's Ryan Regis, regained control and laid the ball in with 1:23 remaining.
Finally, Jenkins, who would score a game-high 25 points, made four straight free throws before Chris Flores scored a driving layup for NJIT with 39 seconds left, finally breaking the decisive Saint Peter's run.
Flores, a freshman guard who had the best game of his nine-game college career, led NIIT with a career-best 19 points and 10 rebounds, which were also game-best. Wilkerson, the sophomore co-captain, added 14 points--seven in each half.
Junior Jheryl Wilson, who returned to the NJIT lineup after missing the previous game due to injury, tied his career high for assists, with six.
The final box score held some revealing team statistics.
Belin's big followup baskets were part of a 32-16 scoring advantage in the paint for Saint Peter's, which also outrebounded the smaller Highlanders, 35-28. The Peacocks recovered 15 offensive rebounds, nearly as many as NJIT's 17 defensive rebounds of Saint Peter's misses.
The Peacocks had a relatively small five-point advantage at the foul line in the game, but the point differential at the line over the final 20 minutes—eight—was identical to the Saint Peter's overall margin in a 37-29 second half.
When it counted most, SPC was flawless, shooting 8-for-8 on free throws in the closing 1:11. Part of the success was putting the ball in the proper hands. Jenkins, with over 900 career points early in his junior season, was 6-for-6, and Leon, an 86 percent career foul shooter, was 2-for-2.
NJIT, victimized by turnovers in the previous two seasons, has improved dramatically in that area this season, enjoying a plus 2.5 turnover margin compared to a minus 3.9 ledger last season.
Against Saint Peter's on Wednesday night, however, the costly turnovers resurfaced. NJIT committed 22 turnovers to 19 for SPC, but the points-off-turnovers favored the Peacocks, 25-12. Further, too many of the NJIT miscues seemed to come near the end of plays when one more successful pass and/or catch would find a man open for what appeared likely to be a score.
Saint Peter's led at halftime, 28-25, led by 10 points for Jenkins and seven for Leon, who typically starts, but came off the bench Wednesday for the second time this season. NJIT, showing balance, had seven points apiece from Flores and Wilkerson and five from Wilson.
In their previous two Division I games, against Seton Hall and Vermont, the Highlanders were outscored decisively to start the second half and the trend continued against Saint Peter's, as the Peacocks stretched their lead of three at halftime to 11 in the first 2:37 out of the locker room.
Against both Seton Hall and Vermont, the spurts proved too much for the Highlanders to absorb. The third time, however, NJIT withstood the attempted Saint Peter's knockout blow and fought back successfully, using a 7-0 spurt and trimming the deficit from 10 points with 8:52 left down to three, 48-45, after a pair of PJ Miller free throws with 6:54 left.
Belin halted NJIT's 7-0 run on a layup at 5:56, but Wilkerson pulled the Highlanders to within two points of the lead, 50-48, on his trey with 4:56 left.
Belin, who scored all eight of his points in the second half, then ignited his team's 10-0 skein that put the game beyond NJIT's reach.
The Highlanders, who opened a stretch that will see them play nine of 10 games away from home with Wednesday night's short trip to Jersey City and Saint Peter's, are off for more than a week due to final exams.
NJIT will return to action on Saturday, December 19, with a 2 pm game at Rutgers.
