Box score

NEWARK, NJ—NJIT combined a 29-9 advantage in points off turnovers and a 24-4 edge in bench scoring to take control and then the Highlanders sealed the win with flawless late free throw shooting for a 72-57 Great West Conference men's basketball decision over visiting North Dakota Saturday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The win moved the Highlanders a game ahead of North Dakota in the Great West Conference standings with three GWC games left in the chase for second place. NJIT, last season's second-place team, is now 4-3, while North Dakota, the 2011 postseason Great West Tournament champion, falls to 3-4. Both teams are 11-13 overall.
 
NJIT's top scorer Saturday was junior Ryan Woods, who struck for a game-high 19 points, matching his highest total in a Highlander uniform, while shooting 6-for-12 from the field (1-4 on threes) and 6-for-7 at the foul line.
 
Woods, who starred for two seasons at Division II Pace, sat out last year under NCAA transfer rules and his NJIT debut this season was further delayed by offseason shoulder surgery, causing him to miss the first three games.
 
Woods made his first Highlander start at Georgetown on December 3 and scored 16 points, which stood as his high vs. a Division I opponent up until Saturday. He later scored 19 against Division III SUNY Cobleskill and matched that in leading the Highlanders past conference rival North Dakota. Six of Woods' points were late free throws that helped seal Saturday's win, as he shot 6-for-6 at the line in the last 2:04.
 
The Highlanders also got 13 points, six rebounds, and four steals from Isaiah Wilkerson and 12 points off the bench from Lamar Kearse, who led his team to the lopsided 24-4 advantage in bench scoring. Sophomore center Kherel Silcott provided only one of the bench points, but he grabbed a personal season-high and team-leading eight rebounds for NJIT.
 
North Dakota put four of its starters in double-figure scoring, led by sophomore point guard Aaron Anderson's 14 points. Troy Huff added 12 points for the Fighting Sioux, who also got 11 points apiece from Brandon Brekke and Jamal Webb. Brekke, a sophomore center, finished with a double-double, coupling a game-high 11 rebounds to go with his 11 points.
 
The key statistic was points off of turnovers, as NJIT turned a North Dakota season-high 25 turnovers into 29 points on the other end of the floor, while the visitors managed only nine points off of 12 Highlander miscues.
 
The Fighting Sioux committed 18 turnovers in the first half, a figure that exceeded their final game total in 16 of the preceding 23 games. The result was a 19-4 lead for NJIT in points off turnovers for the opening 20 minutes, which played a huge role in building the Highlanders' 33-24 halftime lead.
 
The Fighting Sioux turned the ball over on their first two possessions, but only trailed 2-0, before Jamal Webb gave them what would be their only lead of the game, 3-2, on a triple 1:11 into the game.
 
NJIT answered with a 6-0 run in the next 1:27 for an 8-3 advantage and the Highlanders would lead the rest of the game.
 
North Dakota's Huff hit a 3-pointer to trim NJIT's advantage to 8-6, before both teams hit a dry spell that ended with a three for Kearse of the Highlanders, who was set up when Wilkerson made a steal and passed to Kearse a few seconds later. That bucket triggered a 5-0 spurt that made it 13-6 for NJIT
 
Jamal Webb's shot from downtown pulled North Dakota back to 13-9 with 13:26 remaining, but with NJIT playing some of its strongest defense of the year, staying in the game on 3-point shooting would prove unsustainable for the Fighting Sioux, who scored their first nine points on threes and hit four of their first six tries from distance, but were 3-for-17 over the final 27:40.
 
The game was still close at the midpoint of the first half, with NJIT holding a 17-14 advantage before the points off turnovers came into play in a big way. NJIT expanded its lead to 24-14 on a 7-0 run, with the first five points in the run following ND turnovers.
 
The Highlanders took their biggest lead of the first half at 31-19 on a 3-pointer for freshman Marques Jones with 4:04 left, but they did not score again until Wilkerson's put-back layup with two seconds left in the half. The drought was not all that damaging, as the Fighting Sioux managed a jump shot for Webb and a three for Anderson over the final 3:41, leaving the halftime score at 33-24.
 
First-half leaders were: Wilkerson for NJIT, with a game-high 11 points and five rebounds to that point, plus three assists and all four of what would be his game-high steals total of four, while Huff netted nine points for the visitors, followed by Webb's eight points.
 
Ryan Regis, who followed his season-high 10-point effort on Thursday against Utah Valley with another strong showing of eight points against North Dakota, scored the first bucket of the second half, staking the Highlanders to a 35-24 lead.
 
However, Webb answered with a triple and Brekke made a layup on the next possession, cutting NJIT's edge to six points, 35-29, with 18:05 remaining.
 
NJIT, which shot 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) at the foul line in the second half, managed to keep the Fighting Sioux at bay by trading two-point possessions, the first two of which were a pair of free throws each by Wilkerson and Sammy Schickel.
 
North Dakota continued the trading of points and cut its deficit to six for a third time on Mitch Wilmer's dunk that made it 39-33 with 14:37 on the clock.
 
The Highlanders never let it get closer. After misses for both teams, PJ Miller scored a fast-break layup for NJIT and then Kearse followed with a 3-pointer that might have told the most about the Highlanders' resolve on this day.
 
Back when they lost at North Dakota, 80-63, on January 26, NJIT appeared to lose a battle of wills that saw ND make all the key plays and shoot an unbeatable 71.4 percent from the field in scoring 47 second-half points.
 
With Saturday's game still in doubt--NJIT led by eight with 13 minutes to play--Arjun Ohri made a steal for the Highlanders. He tried a three and missed, but Schickel got the offensive rebound and immediately fed Ohri whose quick second try missed again. Kearse, one of the smallest men on the floor, then snuck in to steal the offensive rebound and fed Schickel, who drained his own shot from downtown, pushing the Highlander lead back to 11, 44-33, with 13:09 left.
 
After another North Dakota turnover, Kearse converted a traditional 3-point play, giving NJIT a 14-point lead, 47-33, at 12:44.
 
The Highlanders still led by 13 when North Dakota got a fast-break dunk by Huff and then a three for Anderson to close the score to 54-46 with 6:25 left.
 
But Woods, who scored 15 second-half points, hit jump shots on three consecutive trips down the floor and NJIT was back on top by 13, 60-47, with 4:40 remaining.
 
The Highlanders, who led by at least 11 points over the final 5:15, snuffed all North Dakota hopes by shooting 10-for-10 at the foul line in the last 2:04, foiling the ND strategy of fouling in exchange for possession of the ball. Woods shot 6-for-6 over the last 1:39.
 
Each team shot 42.9 percent from the field in the game and neither was consistently effective from long range, as North Dakota was 7-for-23 on 3-pointers and NJIT was 6-for-23. The victorious Highlanders had a big edge at the foul line, where they shot 81.8 percent (18-22), while the Fighting Sioux were 8-for-15 (53.3 percent).
 
Another result on Saturday, a 66-61 win for Utah Valley at Chicago State, all but assured UVU of its second straight Great West regular season title. The win for the Wolverines, their 10th in a row overall, gives them a 7-0 conference record with three GWC games left.
 
With only NJIT and Texas-Pan American holding even a mathematical hope of finishing above second, the race of interest for the Highlanders now rests in defending their second-place finish of a year ago.
 
The Highlanders will take a 4-3 conference record with them to face 3-2 Texas-Pan American, which had its conference bye weekend this weekend. The Highlanders, who edged the Broncs in Newark, 58-57, on January 21, will visit UTPA on Thursday at 7 pm (CST).
 
Two days later, NJIT will play a 7:05 pm (CST) game at Houston Baptist, which is also in its bye weekend. The Highlanders beat HBU, 85-62, on January 19.