Box score
OREM, UT—NJIT relied on what has been a foolproof formula to win its first game in the 2010 Great West Conference Tournament, defeating North Dakota, 70-57, at the UVU Events Center Wednesday night on the campus of Utah Valley University.
The foolproof formula? Hold the opposition under 60 points.
With Wednesday's win against North Dakota, the Highlanders are 9-0 when they keep the opponents at 59, or less. They have 10 wins overall.
“We put an emphasis on defense coming into this game,” said junior all-Great West Conference honoree Jheryl Wilson. “We didn't do a good job on defense at Chicago State (allowed 81 points in a loss on Saturday) and at South Dakota (allowed 83 in a loss on Sunday). We put an emphasis on defense because that's what we want our identity to be—as a defensive team.”
NJIT, which split its two regular season games with North Dakota (lost at North Dakota, 90-78, on February 23; won at home, 91-73, on February 28), trailed at the half Wednesday night, 28-27.
The Highlanders, who defended well in the first half, despite trailing, turned it up a notch in the second half, holding the third-seeded Fighting Sioux to 8-for-29 shooting (.276) from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Leading by four points, 61-57, with 6:08 remaining, NJIT held North Dakota without a field goal until first team all-conference guard Travis Bledsoe made a three-pointer with 42 seconds left. By then, however, it was far too late for the Fighting Sioux, as the Highlanders had expanded their lead from four points to 14 before the Bledsoe three.
Bledsoe scored 19 points and Derek Benter added 10 for North Dakota, which goes home with an 8-23 final record. The Fighting Sioux were 5-7 in the Great West regular season.
“I thought we defended really well,” said NJIT coach Jim Engles. “It was the third time we played (North Dakota), so our players had a good idea of what they do. That's important because it's hard to defend their stuff if you're unfamiliar with it.”
“Offensively, I thought we didn't execute well in the first half. But in the second half Chris Flores made some big shots and Isaiah (Wilkerson) did, too.”
Chris Flores, a second-team all-Great West pick and all-newcomer honoree, was limited to five points in 10 minutes, due, in part to foul trouble. He scored 16 in the second half and finished with a game-high 21 points.
Isaiah Wilkerson, named honorable mention all-Great West, scored 18 points Wednesday, his highest total since he scored 21 in the home win over North Dakota. The NJIT captain scored 12 of his 18 points on Wednesday in the decisive second half.
Engles also cited the work of his centers, senior Dan Stonkus and sophomore Ryan Regis. “We got some good effort plays from our bigs,” said the coach of the duo that combined for 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, including a season-high eight rebounds for Regis.
NJIT, which was seeded sixth after posting a 4-8 conference record, will take a day off to make room on the stage for the Great West women's quarterfinals.
The men's part of the tournament will resume on Friday and the Highlanders will take on Houston Baptist, the second seed, which escaped with an 80-77 win over #7 Chicago State earlier in the evening. HBU, which won both regular season games against NJIT, will take on the Highlanders at 7:30 pm MST.
Wednesday's game was the first postseason basketball action for NJIT since the 2004-05 season, when the Highlanders were still competing at the Division II level. NJIT stayed in Division II in 2005-06, but was not eligible for postseason play due to its then-upcoming reclassification to Division I. And as a Division I Independent from 2006 to 2009, NJIT did not have a postseason conference tournament.
The Highlanders set the defensive tone from the outset on Wednesday, keeping North Dakota completely off the board for the first 4:23 and limiting the Fighting Sioux to three points in the opening nine minutes.
However, UND got untracked enough to pull ahead for the first time, 22-20, on a pair of Derek Benter foul shots with 3:57 left. And after two more ties, the Fighting Sioux went into the locker room with a 28-27 lead thanks to a driving layup by Nick Haugen with less than 10 seconds left in the half.
The score remained extremely close well into the second half and there were four ties in the period when NJIT's Flores knotted the score, 42-42, on a three-pointer with 9:42 remaining.
That Flores trey ignited a 7-0 NJIT spurt that put the Highlanders in the driver's seat the rest of the way. The spurt was also part of a bigger 20-6 run for the Highlanders, covering a span of 6:09.
