Further, the men's basketball alumni game that had been scheduled for Saturday morning has been canceled in anticipation of the winter storm forecast for overnight Friday into Saturday.
Longwood is a familiar foe for NJIT since the Highlanders began Division I competition in 2006-07. That season and in the next two, Longwood and NJIT were Division I Independents and faced each other twice a season. This year, NJIT is in the Great West Conference, while Longwood has remained an Independent and the teams will meet just once.
The Highlanders took the first two meetings between the programs, winning both games in 2006-07, but Longwood has prevailed twice in each of the subsequent two seasons to take a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. The Lancers, who are based in Farmville in southern Virginia, defeated NJIT at home last season, 63-51, and then took the Highlanders in Newark, 77-70, in what was NJIT's season finale for 2008-09.
This season the teams have two common opponents to date. Virginia defeated Longwood, 85-72, on November 13 and later topped the Highlanders, 68-37, on December 21. Both games were played at Virginia. Lehigh also hosted both Longwood and NJIT and beat the Lancer on December 28, 89-78, and then NJIT, 86-79, less than a week later.
Longwood owns a somewhat deceptive 6-16 record, having played 14 of its 22 games away and managing to win just one of those. Many of those road games have been against teams from top-rated conferences such as Virginia, Virginia Tech and Maryland of the ACC and South Carolina of the SEC, not to mention Old Dominion and William and Mary of the highly-regarded CAA, and Richmond of the equally respected Atlantic 10. Three of Longwood's other losses have come by a combined total of 10 points. The Lancers come to Newark having won their last two games
The Lancers, who are one of the higher scoring teams NJIT has faced, have two clear leaders in redshirt senior Dana Smith, a 6-foot-6 swingman, and sophomore Antwan Carter, an active, athletic post player. Smith averages 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, while Carter comes in at 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Carter had 22 points and 9 rebounds in 27 minutes the last time he faced NJIT in Newark, while Smith had 18 points and four steals in the same game. Four other Longwood players average at least 6.9 ppg.
NJIT, meanwhile, is positioned for a program first. The Highlanders, who have won two straight for the third time since the program moved to Division I, will aim for a three-game winning streak as they host Longwood.
The previous two games, which have been played at home the last two Saturdays, went NJIT's way in a big way, as the Highlanders defeated Chicago State by 29 points, 66-37, on January 23 and then defeated Utah Valley by 25 points, 71-46, a week later. Those were both Great West Conference tilts.
For the season, the Highlanders have three players averaging double-figure scoring—# Isaiah Wilkerson# (13.7 ppg); Jheryl Wilson (12.7 ppg); and, freshman Chris Flores (12.3 ppg).
Wilkerson is NJIT's top rebounder (5.4 rpg), followed by Wilson (4.9 rpg). Wilson is the team's assists leader (50) and Flores, who made four steals in each of the last two games, is the season leader in that category, with 39.
The Highlanders will play again without Wilkerson and freshman backup center Sean McCarthy, who are both nursing foot injuries. Last week, Sammy Schickel helped cushion the loss of Wilkerson, coming off the bench for a career-high 18 points in the win over Utah Valley. Sophomore Ryan Regis also posted a career scoring high, with nine points vs. UVU.
Fans unable to make it into Newark for 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 and Jon Schaeffer, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed.
