The NJIT men return to campus and the Fleisher Athletic Center to host Texas-Pan American in the second game of a Great West Conference doubleheader that begins with a 2 pm game between the women's teams of the two schools.
The Highlanders, who had not played since February 6, came out on the short end in their closest game of the year, 62-58, Thursday night in the Prudential Center against Houston Baptist. NJIT, which led at halftime by nine points, was unable to close out a win in a contest whose winner was still in doubt with less than 10 seconds remaining.
Sophomore captain Isaiah Wilkerson, who had missed the previous two games with a foot injury, returned to the lineup against HBU and led the Highlanders scorers, with 19 points. Jheryl Wilson added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and freshman Chris Flores chipped in 12 points, despite being limited by foul trouble, especially in the first half, when he collected three whistles.
The same three scorers lead NJIT on the season, as Wilkerson averages 14 points, plus a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game. Wilson averages 13 points and 5 rebounds and also has an NJIT-best 58 assists. And Flores scores 12.5 ppg and leads the team in steals (42, ranked 48th nationally in steals per game) and has five fewer assists than Wilson.
Texas-Pan Am played an exceptionally difficult non-conference schedule, facing the likes of Texas (ranked first in the nation at the time), Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Virginia, and Northwestern, among others under first-year head coach Ryan Marks.
The Broncs and NJIT were the first Great West Conference opponents for each other and UTPA, which trailed by a point at halftime, was able to come away with a 66-53 win over the Highlanders back on January 14 in Texas.
Three players reached double figures that night for Texas-Pan Am—Aaron Urbanus and Matt Myrziecki, with 13 points each, and Luis Valera, with 11 points. Valera also grabbed a game-best eight rebounds.
For NJIT, Flores scored 16 points and Wilkerson added 10 in a game in which the Highlanders never seemed to get any sustained offensive rhythm, as evidenced in the statistics with just 7 assists to 17 turnovers as a team.
Texas-Pan American, which followed its win over NJIT with an even more decisive win over Chicago State two nights later, then lost seven straight. However, two of the losses were in overtime and one was by one point in regulation. The Broncs broke their slide with a 74-61 win over Utah Valley in their most recent game, last Saturday.
No one averages double-figure scoring for the Broncs, but five players are scoring at least 7 points per game, headed by sophomore Jared Maree at 9.8 ppg. Valera averages 9.5 ppg and 4.7 rebounds, while Myrziecki is the top rebounder (5.6 rpg), while adding 8.2 ppg.
Fans unable to make it to the game can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a webcast play-by-play and commentary by Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed.
