Box score
EDINBURG, TX—Texas-Pan American senior forward Emmanuel Jones celebrated his final home game by scoring a career-high 31 points, including the tying and go-ahead free throws with 3:33 remaining, as the Broncs overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to defeat visiting NJIT, 60-53, in men's basketball Monday night.
Jones, who is in his second year at UTPA after playing two years in the junior college ranks, averages better than 18 points and eight rebounds per game and he was the game leader against the Highlanders in both categories, with 31 points and nine rebounds.
He was the only double-figure scorer for the Broncs, whose next-leading scorer was sophomore guard PJ Turner, who finished with nine points, all on 9-for-10 foul shooting, seven of which came in the last 1:35 with NJIT trying to stay close by fouling to trade free throws for possessions. Turner came into the game shooting under 60 percent at the foul line for the season.
Jones, too, had a career night in a couple of categories in surpassing his old career high of 28 points, set earlier this year. A 65 percent free throw shooter on the year, he made 10 of 12 tries (83 percent) on Monday night against NJIT.
Further, Jones, who had never made a three-point basket in four career tries, sunk his first and only attempt against the Highlanders at a critical point in the Texas-Pan American win. NJIT had pulled to within a point of the lead, 48-47, after Justin Garris made both free throws in a one-and-one with 2:31 left. Jones found himself open near the top of the key 18 seconds later and found the bottom of the net and the Broncs never let the lead go under four again.
NJIT's game scoring leaders were guards Isaiah Wilkerson, who scored 16 points—14 in the second half—and Jheryl Wilson, who scored 15 points and handed out a game-high five assists.
The team rebounding totals were even at 28 apiece and the individual leaders for NJIT were Dan Stonkus and Gary Garris, each of whom collected four boards.
The first half, which ended with NJIT on top, 25-23, was extremely close, with neither team leading by more than four points in a half that saw five ties and four lead changes.
Jones, the type of agile, active big man who has given NJIT fits all season, had 13 points and six rebounds to keep his team in the game in the first half. He shot 4-for-6 from the field, while the rest of the UTPA team combined to shoot 4-for-20 in the half. Jones also made all five of his free throws in the half, while the rest of the Broncs were 1-for-2 and NJIT was 1-for-1.
NJIT led despite a first-half scoring drought that lasted from 8:41 to 3:27. The Highlanders stayed in contention by holding the home team to just four points over the same 5:14 span. Wilson finished the half with nine points to lead the Highlanders at the break.
The score stayed tight early in the second half, but the Highlanders, who held onto the lead throughout, went up 37-32 on a Wilkerson jump shot with 12:28 left and then to a game-best seven, 42-35, with 9:24 remaining after the rookie's three/
Around that time, Texas-Pan American began doing new things in an apparent bid to force turnovers and/or up the tempo. And the new tactics worked.
Between the time that NJIT held a 45-39 lead with 8:03 left and UTPA went ahead, 46-45, on Jones' two free throws with 3:33 left, the Highlanders committed five of their 11 second-half turnovers. Indeed, NJIT committed seven turnovers in the last eight minutes after committing 11 in the first 32 minutes of the game.
The second-half turnovers were especially harmful to NJIT, as Texas-Pan American had a 13-1 advantage in points-off-of-turnovers in the second half. In the first half, it had been the Highlanders who had a slight 7-5 edge in points-off-of-turnovers.
Despite its problems, NJIT, which went scoreless between Justin Garris' three-pointer that made it 45-39 at 8:03 and his free throws at 2:31, continued to do some things well, holding UTPA to three points in the first 4:16 of the 5:32 dry spell.
However, Jones who made 10 of his 14 shots from the field, followed his go-ahead free throws with a dunk that gave the Broncs a three-point lead, which was trimmed to one on Garris' successful one-and-one trip to the line.
Jones answered with his dagger three and he and Turner combined to make nine of 10 foul shots in the last 1:33 to finish off the win.
The final count at the foul line was lopsided in favor of the home team—24 points on 31 tries overall, including 18-for-24 in the second half—while NJIT, although it shot well, made just seven free throws with eight attempts. The differential in scoring on foul shots was 18-7 in the second half and 24-7 in a game decided by seven points with a one-point margin 2:31 from the end.
NJIT, with three games remaining, has its final away game on Saturday at 7 pm (MST) in Orem, Utah against Utah Valley. The Wolverines defeated NJIT, 61-40, on February 12 in Newark.
