Box score

NEWARK, NJ—Ben Aird scored 10 of his game-leading 24 points in overtime, including a pair of go-ahead free throws with 3:50 left in the second extra period, to lift visiting Utah Valley to a 99-97 double overtime win over NJIT in Great West Conference men's basketball Thursday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The thrilling win at NJIT was the ninth victory in a row for Utah Valley in a winning streak that includes a 6-0 start in the 10-game Great West Conference schedule.
 
The Wolverines are now 16-10 overall and have taken both regular season meetings from the Highlanders, coupling Thursday's air-tight decision with an 81-58 win over NJIT in Utah on January 28.
 
NJIT, now 3-3 in conference play, including the two defeats vs. UVU, drops to 10-13 overall, with four losses in five games since standing at 9-9 on January 21.
 
All five Utah Valley starters reached double-figure points totals, topped by Aird, the sophomore center, and senior guard Isiah Williams, with 24 points apiece. Aird, whose 24 points on the night were a career high, also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, blocked a game-high three shots, and shared his team's assists honors, with five.
 
Behind the 24 points apiece from Williams and Aird, Utah Valley got 17 points, plus eight rebounds, from Geddes Robinson, 14 points from Holton Hunsaker, and 11 from Keith Thompson.
 
NJIT had six players score in double-figures, including three off the bench, resulting in a 44-9 scoring advantage for the Highlander reserves over the UVU bench.
 
Junior guard Chris Flores, a starter, topped the NJIT scoring with 22 points, as the Highlanders, who were tied for second place in the Great West coming in, dropped to 3-3 with four conference games remaining.
 
Behind Flores' 22 points, NJIT got 14 from senior Arjun Ohri, 12 apiece from PJ Miller, Lamar Kearse and Isaiah Wilkerson, and 10 points from senior center Ryan Regis, who also topped NJIT with seven rebounds. Miller had a game-high six assists for the Highlanders.
 
Flores, who played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored 16 points in the second half and six in overtime. Ohri did all his scoring in 10 first-half minutes, hitting five of six shots, including 4-for-5 on threes.
 
Miller's 12 points were one point shy of his career scoring high and his six assists matched his season high. Regis, a senior, matched his career scoring high with the 10 points and the seven rebounds were one shy of his career-high eight, which he last did against a Division I team on February 17, 2009 vs. Bryant. Regis had missed the preceding two games with a leg injury.
 
The double overtime game was close throughout the whole 50 minutes (40 in regulation, plus two five-minute overtime periods), with nine ties and 16 lead changes and neither side leading by more than eight points at any time.
 
Aird, who opened the scoring in both overtime periods with two made free throws, put the visitors ahead to stay, 94-92, on two more foul shots with 3:50 left in the game. After a missed 3-point try on the other end by NJIT's Kearse, Williams got the defensive rebound for UVU and eventually scored on a short running floater in the lane for a 96-92 advantage with 3:05 remaining.
 
The two-possession lead would prove be insurmountable for NJIT. With the visitors up four, Flores made a layup at the 2:32 mark, but Aird answered 24 seconds later, pushing the lead back to 98-94.
 
The Highlanders closed to within a point, 98-97, on a Kearse three with 1:10 left, but the long-range bucket with 70 seconds left would NJIT's last shot of the night.
 
NJIT called timeout to set its defense and after trapping UVU in the backcourt, the Highlanders forced the Wolverines to call time at 1:03, still leading by one.
 
With the pressure relieved, Utah Valley ran down the clock against an NJIT squad playing tight defense. Williams ended up with the shot, but he missed near the end of the shot clock. However, in the scramble for the rebound, the ball went out of bounds off the Highlanders, keeping possession with UVU, which got a fresh shot clock.
 
Again taking the clock down, the Wolverines found Aird along the right baseline, but his short jump shot was an air ball. However, Robinson, the 12th leading rebounder in the nation who had tied the Utah Valley record with 18 rebounds when he faced the Highlanders in Utah, was able to control the ball at his feet and was fouled with 6.1 seconds left on the game clock and less than three on the shot clock.
 
Robinson, just a 53 percent foul shooter on the season coming in, had missed his first three foul shots of the game, but he connected on his first try to put the Wolverines up 99-97. Further, after going 1-for-7 at the line in the second half, the first Robinson foul shot made UVU 9-for-9 in overtime until then.
 
However, Robinson missed the second try, but it came off to Alfonzo Hubbard, who snuck in front of NJIT's Kherel Silcott, subbing for Regis, who fouled out 17 seconds into the second overtime period.
 
Silcott stole the ball away from Hubbard, but with time slipping away, Silcott's pass attempt to advance the ball for a final shot was intercepted by UVU's Williams and the thriller was over.
 
Regulation and the first overtime each ended with NJIT holding a chance for victory.
 
The Highlanders, who four times held their biggest lead of the game, eight, in the second half, the last at 54-46 on two Wilkerson free throws with 13:30, saw Utah Valley go on a 18-9 run to take a 64-63 advantage on Hunsaker's trey with 7:43 left.
 
That UVU lead was short-lived, however, as Wilkerson hit a three of his own on NJIT's next possession and there would be 10 lead changes over the next 7:28 of regulation. Only once in that span did either team lead by more than two and that was a three-point spread for the Highlanders, 70-67, on a Kearse shot from downtown with 5:18 left.
 
With the jockeying down to the wire in regulation, Hunsaker, who was scoreless in the first half, but who netted 11 in the second half, put his team on top, 79-78, on a jumper with 1:11 left in regulation.
 
After misses on each end, including a block by Kearse on Hunsaker under the basket with 28 seconds left, the Highlanders set up a play that isolated Flores one-on-one against a defender.
 
Flores, who scored the game-winner out of a similar set in a 58-57 home conference win over Texas-Pan American on January 21, drove and was fouled by Utah Valley's Thompson with 3.8 seconds left.
 
Flores made the first free throw and Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker, who would raise his career wins total to 350 with his team's eventual victory, called timeout in a bid to ice Flores with the game tied at 79. The second try by Flores missed and the Wolverines got the rebound, but only managed a three-quarters court try that missed everything at the buzzer.
 
In the first overtime, NJIT staged a huge rally after falling behind by four, 90-86 with 31.6 seconds left in the period.
 
Robinson, who made eight of his 11 shots from the floor, had put the Wolverines on top by one, 85-84, on a layup with 2:45 left in the first overtime. After a missed shot early in the shot clock by NJIT, Utah Valley got the ball and called timeout with 2:08 left.
 
Williams, being pressured by PJ Miller, was awarded two free throws when Miller made chest-to-chest contact near the foul line at the 1:57 mark. Williams made both free throws, extending his team's advantage to three.
 
Flores then trimmed the deficit back to one on a layup with 1:09 left in the period, but Holton Hunsaker appeared to deliver the dagger with 31.6 seconds left on the game clock and less than six seconds on the shot clock.
 
Going into the left corner and closely-guarded by Kearse, the UVU point guard leaned his shoulder into Kearse, stepped back to the 3-point line and got all net for a four-point lead, 90-86.
 
Flores' subsequent 3-point try missed, but Hunsaker fouled Wilkerson on the rebound and the NJIT senior hit both free throws, cutting the deficit to 90-88.
 
Miller then stole the inbounds pass with 18.4 seconds left and fed Regis for the tying layup, 90-90.
 
On the next possession, NJIT clamped down on all of Hunsaker's options, so he launched a 25-footer from the top of the key—actually well within his range—but it went in-and-out and Regis grabbed the rebound.
 
Kearse, running ahead of the pack, was open at the other end and Miller sent the pass ahead, but Kearse's bank shot from about 10 feet was a bit rushed in a bid to beat the buzzer and it fell off the rim as the first overtime ended.
 
The game began well for Utah Valley, which scored the first eight points and led, 10-3, after Robinson layup just 2:19 into the contest. The only points for the Highlanders came on a 3-pointer for senior Sammy Schickel, making his second college start and his first since his debut season in 2009-10.
 
NJIT used a 5-0 run to get back to within two, 10-8, but Utah Valley against went up eight, 16-8, on a Williams layup with 13:40 left in the first half. Again, the Highlanders fought back, this time with an 11-2 run and they took their first lead, 19-18, on a Kearse layup with 9:46 on first-half clock.
 
With Ohri on fire—14 points in a span of 7:39 from 13:16 to 5:37, NJIT twice claimed six-point leads, first on an Ohri three at the 5:37 mark and again on a conventional 3-point play for Regis that made it 39-33, with 3:05 left in the half.
 
The play may have been the most spectacular sequence of Regis' career. Tipping the ball clear and stealing it at his own foul line, the 6-foot-6 senior dribbled clear of the pack and taking off near the other foul line, dunked for two points and was awarded a foul shot, which he made.
 
Utah Valley then scored the last five points of the opening half, pulling to within a point of the lead, 39-38, at the break. Ohri's 14 points led NJIT, followed by seven apiece from Miller and Schickel.
 
The Highlanders held the lead on the red-hot Wolverines despite getting a combined two points from their two leading scorers for the season. Flores, averaging 12.9 points coming in, was limited to no points and three minutes due to first-half foul trouble. Wilkerson, leading the conference in scoring at 16.5 ppg, had two points in four minutes.
 
For Utah Valley, Williams, who scored 26 in the January game against NJIT, led all scorers at the half on Thursday, with 15 points, followed by 10 points for Robinson.

Thursday's game was the first double-overtime game for NJIT since the Highlanders began Division I competition in the 2006-07 season and their first overtime game of any kind this season. They played two overtime games in 2010-11, winning both, and had not played overtime before that since January 2, 2007, when they lost to Navy in one extra session.
 
NJIT has a quick turnaround, hosting another strong Great West opponent on Saturday. North Dakota, the 2011 Great West Conference Tournament champion, is also 3-3 in the conference play this year. The Fighting Sioux won at Chicago State on Thursday night, 75-69, and is 11-12 overall.
 
North Dakota defeated the Highlanders, 80-63, when the teams played in Grand Forks, ND, on January 26.
 
Saturday's rematch, which is part of men's basketball Alumni Day, will tip off at 2 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.