Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Isaiah Wilkerson's driving double-clutch baseline layup with 1.2 seconds remaining lifted NJIT to a 65-64 win over visiting Longwood in men's college basketball Saturday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
Longwood, facing a near-hopeless situation, defied the odds with a length-of-the-court inbounds pass that found its way through the NJIT defense to an open Durann Neil, whose layup attempt missed at the buzzer.
Wilkerson, who played just five minutes in the second half due to foul trouble, finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds, while sophomore Chris Flores scored 19 points to lead the 9-12 Highlanders, who won for the seventh time in their last nine games. NJIT has won its last five home games.
Jheryl Wilson had 8 rebounds, leading NJIT to a 39-31 advantage on the boards and Sammy Schickel, who saw most of his playing time when Wilkerson was in foul trouble, had his best game of the season, notching 9 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
NJIT, which had gone all season without a non-conference win against a Division I opponent before this week, wrapped up non-league play with two airtight wins, first at Fairleigh Dickinson (64-62 in overtime on Tuesday) and then Saturday's thriller over Longwood.
Longwood, which had won six consecutive games against the Highlanders since the 2007-08 season, including 88-81 on January 18 at home in Farmville, VA, fell to 8-18 with Saturday's loss. The Lancers are winless in 13 away games this season.
They lost on Saturday despite game-high totals of 29 points and 11 rebounds for standout junior center Antwan Carter. It was the fourth straight game with at least 20 points, and the third straight double-double with at least 25 points for Carter.
Longwood freshman David Robinson came off the bench for a career-best 12 points, with all of the points coming in the second half on 4-for-5 3-point shooting. His previous high was 11 points in the second game of the year against Stephen F. Austin.
There were seven ties, including 33-33 at halftime, and 17 lead changes in the closely-contested game and the biggest lead of the last 11 minutes was four points, at 63-59 for NJIT after a pair of PJ Miller free throws with 1:03 remaining.
Carter scored a layup 10 seconds later to pull Longwood within two and Lancer junior Martiz Washington hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to put his team on top, 64-63, with 9.7 seconds left.
The Highlanders immediately inbounded the ball and Wilkerson drove the ball from the top of the key to the baseline, where he made what would be the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds on the clock.
Both teams called timeouts before Longwood's Carter, under his own basket, fired a long pass that was tipped at the far foul line, but not controlled, by the NJIT defense, instead getting to Neil, whose open layup rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The final play brought to mind a desperation pass into the end zone in football, where the defenders are in position to knock the ball down, but none of them do and it ends up in a receiver's hands.
NJIT, which lost in November when an Army player hit a 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer, had three defenders under Longwood's long pass. But the trio of Highlanders appeared to bump each other and the ball ticked off a defenders hand to Neil, who was open, but was unable to make the shot.
Wilkerson had led NJIT in the first half with 9 points and 6 rebounds, but he spent most of the second half on the bench, taking a seat at the 8:10 mark with the score tied at 44. He returned to the floor with 2:32 left.
Wilkerson came on in the middle of a two-shot free throw opportunity for Longwood's Carter, who had made the first to put his team up, 57-56. However, Carter missed the second and Wilkerson came down with the rebound.
Difficulty on free throws killed Longwood, especially in the second half, when the Lancers shot 5-for-12 from the line.
Miller, who played a major role for NJIT down the stretch, drove into the lane for a layup that put NJIT ahead by a point, 58-57, with 2:10 left, before Carter answered on the other end, reclaiming a one-point lead for the Lancers 28 seconds later.
The Highlanders got a break on the ensuing possession, as Miller found Wilkerson, who scored a layup and was fouled by Carter in the act of shooting. Wilkerson then completed the conventional 3-point play for a 61-59 NJIT lead at 1:16.
NJIT called timeout to set its defense and after the Lancers advanced the ball into the frontcourt, Miller came up big again, stealing the ball from Longwood's Jeremiah Bowman off the dribble at the top of the key. Bowman fouled Miller, setting up a one-and-one free throw situation at 1:03.
Miller, who had just two free throw attempts total in the previous five games, stepped up to the line and swished both of his tries against Longwood, pushing the Highlander lead to 63-59.
Not surprisingly, the Lancers immediately looked to their go-to player, Carter, who scored his 28th and 29th points on a layup with 53 seconds left. Carter's 29 points were one shy of his career-best 30 against South Carolina State in December.
Leading by two, NJIT worked the shot clock down under five seconds, but Flores, who scored 12 second-half points, was short on a jumper with 21 seconds left and the rebound went out of bounds, last touched by the Highlanders.
Longwood took a timeout and Aaron Mitchell, who had found Carter for the layup on the previous Lancer possession, sent the ball to Washington, who connected on his first 3-pointer of the day, giving the Lancers a one-point lead with less than 10 seconds to play.
Washington, who came into the game with 67 3-pointers on the season and had shot 6-for-11 on threes when Longwood beat NJIT in January, missed his first six long-range tries on Saturday.
In a lot of games, Washington's first triple of the afternoon would have made him the hero. Instead, there would be two more dramatic turns in the remaining 9.7 seconds.
For NJIT, Wilkerson has been in the middle of things when games are on the line. Back on January 22 in Chicago, he scored five of NJIT's last seven points in the final 1:07 when the Highlanders came from behind for an 86-83 win at Chicago State.
Earlier this week at Fairleigh Dickinson, he got an offensive rebound with the score tied on the last possession of regulation, but his attempt for a game-winner missed at the buzzer. However, he scored four points and had three rebounds in the extra period to finish with 15 points and 13 rebounds in NJIT's 64-62 overtime win.
Wilkerson delivered again on Saturday, fighting his way through traffic to deliver the winning basket before Longwood's bid failed at the buzzer.
Saturday was Alumni Day for the men's basketball program and the day's activities included an alumni basketball game. The participants were honored later in halftime ceremonies during the NJIT-Longwood game.
NJIT will play its remaining schedule in the Great West Conference, beginning with a pair of home games in the coming week. The Highlanders, who are 3-1 in conference play, will host North Dakota on Thursday in a game scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. They will host defending conference champion South Dakota on Saturday at 4 pm.
