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NJIT comes into its final non-conference game having won six of its last eight contests, however one of the two defeats in that span came at Longwood (88-81 on January 18). The Lancers are visiting Newark for a 2 pm contest on Saturday in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
A state university based in Farmville, VA, a town located a little more than 60 miles southwest of Richmond, Longwood preceded NJIT by two years in reclassifying to NCAA Division I from Division II.
Saturday's game will be the ninth between the programs since 2006-07, when NJIT began Division I competition. The Highlanders won the two games that year, prevailing by 4-point margins each time. However, Longwood has won the last six games in the series (two in 2007-08, two in 2008-09, once last season, and then earlier this season). The last three Longwood wins have been by 7, 9, and 7 points, respectively.
Longwood comes in looking for its first road win of the season, having come up short in 12 tries so far, the latest at Colgate (97-86) on Wednesday … Junior C Antwan Carter is a force for the high scoring (75.3 ppg) Lancers, averaging 17.6 ppg and 8.8 rpg. He has been on fire the last two games, with 26 pts and 10 rebs vs. Savannah State and 25 points and 11 rebounds at Colgate. Three other Lancers average double-figure scoring, including junior Martiz Washington (10.1 ppg). The guard, who has 14 starts, came off the bench for a career-best 22 pts in last month's win over NJIT, highlighted by 6-11 3-point shooting. Washington has made 67 3-point baskets this season.
Senior guard Aaron Mitchell is second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg), while junior guard Jeremiah Bowman contributes 12.3 ppg. Burly junior guard Durann Neil (9 ppg) is another threat inside and outside, having connected on 37 threes.
NJIT which had scored at least 79 points in its first five Division I games of 2011, was limited to 58 last Saturday in its first Great West Conference loss, 71-58, at Utah Valley last Saturday night. Earlier this week, the Highlanders scored 64, but came away with a 64-62 overtime win at Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday, as FDU scored a Division I opponents' season-worst 62 points and shot an overall opponents' season-worst 30 percent (21-70) from the floor.
The top three scorers for NJIT, all preseason all-Great West Conference picks, are bunched within 8 points of each other at the top of the season statistics. Senior Jheryl Wilson has scored 264 points (13.2 ppg); junior Isaiah Wilkerson has 261 points (13.1 ppg); and, sophomore Chris Flores has 256 points (12.8 ppg). Freshman Lamar Kearse is another scoring threat at 9.6 ppg.
Wilkerson, coming off a season-best 13 rebounds at FDU is NJIT's season rebounding leader (6.4 rpg), while Wilson adds 4.6 rpg and is second on the team with 58 assists. Flores, who has scored at least 10 points in 10 of the last 12 games, has a team-leading 60 assists and a team-best 29 steals.
Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a webcast play-by-play and commentary from Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed. Audio coverage will begin a few minutes before the 2 pm tipoff.
