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BANGOR, Maine—NJIT completed a 3-game sweep of its 5-day men's basketball road trip, scoring an 88-82 win Tuesday night over host Maine in the first college basketball game played in the new Cross Insurance Center.

NJIT (3-2) had five double-figure scorers, led by 24 points from freshman guard Damon Lynn, in completing its third win in five days, with all three games played in different states, from West Point, NY, to Durham, NH, to Bangor, Maine.

The Highlanders, who began their season with losses at Tulane and UAlbany, left campus on Friday afternoon and won that evening, 89-85, at Army in West Point, NY. Crossing into New England, NJIT took a 71-63 victory at New Hampshire on Sunday evening. The next stop was Maine, where the Highlanders built a 13-point lead at the half and then held off a relentless charge by the Black Bears (1-3), who scored 53 second-half points after managing just 29 in the opening half.

Only twice has NJIT won more than 3 away games in an entire season in the Division I era, let alone 3 in less than a week. The first time was 2010-11 (5-9 away) and then last season (4-9), a year in which the overall wins (16) was the highest since the program entered Division I competition in 2006-07

Nearly half of Maine's 53 points in the second half came from sophomore Dimitry Akanda-Coronel, who exploded for 26 points over the last 20 minutes and finished with a game-high and personal career-high 29 points. Akanda-Coronel's scoring total in Tuesday's second half (26) far surpassed his previous game-high of 18, done at Rhode Island in the season opener on November 8.

After Lynn's 24 markers, NJIT got 13 points from sophomore Nigel Sydnor, who set his personal high against a Division I opponent. He made four free throws in the final 18 seconds to help the Highlanders put the win on ice.

Sophomore post player Terrence Smith, who had made 60 percent of his shots in the opening four games, had his most difficult shooting game of the year, going 5-for-13 from the field. Still, he was 3-for-6 in the second half and completed his first double-double of the season, combining 12 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds.

Sophomore transfer Winfield Willis reached a new personal NJIT scoring high, coming off the bench for 12 points in 20 minutes before fouling out. Sophomore guard Ky Howard filled three important columns in the box score, with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Exactly half of Maine's shots (34-of-68) in the game came from outside the 3-point arc and the Black Bears made 13 triples—9 in the second half. Akanda-Coronel made four of his five 3-pointers in the second half and junior Zarko Valjarevic made three of his four triples in the second half. Valjarevic finished with 14 points and sophomore Shaun Lawton chipped in 12 points and 8 assists. Sophomore Ethan Mackey paced Maine on the boards with 11 rebounds and freshman Garet Beal added 9 rebounds and 8 points.

NJIT's attack was more varied, with 60 total shots, 14 of which were from downtown. The Highlanders connected on 8 of the 3-point tries (57.1 pct) and they also shot 22-for-28 (78.6 pct) at the foul line, including 17-for-19 in the second half, a crucial factor in keeping Maine at arm's-length.

At New Hampshire Sunday evening, NJIT closed the first half on a 13-0 run to claim a 46-32 lead in a game the Highlanders won, 71-63. At Maine, the Highlanders turned a 30-29 lead with 2:04 left in the first half into a 42-29 advantage at the break, as Sydnor hit a three and then Lynn followed with a pair of free throws and two 3-pointers after that. Lynn scored 14 of his team-leading 24 points in the opening half.

The Highlanders finished the half making 46.6 percent (15-of-33), including 7-for-11 from downtown, but both teams started the game slowly and the score was tied at just 2-2 after more than four minutes of play in the first game at the Cross Insurance Center, a 5,800-seat municipal arena owned by the City of Bangor, which is about 13 miles from the University of Maine campus in Orono.

NJIT, which never trailed in the game, led 25-12 after Sydnor's steal and driving layup with 8:46 left in the first half. However, the Black Bears clawed back and used an 8-0 run to get back within a point, 30-29, on Lawton's fast-break dunk just before NJIT closed out the half on its 12-0 push in the last 2:04.

The Highlanders kept their lead in double-digits for much of the second half, taking a game-high 17-point edge, 61-44, on Jake Duncan's bucket with 8:32 left.

However, Maine scored 8 unanswered points in less than two minutes, trimming the NJIT advantage down to 61-52 on a Valjarevic 3-pointer with 6:25 on the clock.

Howard answered with a driving layup for NJIT, but Akanda-Coronel drained a triple and then a jump shot, making it 63-57 with 5:15 to play, more than enough time to pull out a comeback if NJIT hadn't found a response.

Willis and Sydnor each drove for layups, Howard sunk two free throws and then a driving layup, interrupted only by another Akanda-Coronel three, pushing the NJIT bulge back to 11 points after Howard's layup at 3:05.

When Smith finished a layup with just 1:54 left, the Highlanders' lead was 75-63. And the advantage was 81-70 when Willis hit two free throws with just 49 seconds still on the clock.

But it took the Highlanders to make their last 7 foul shots in the closing 36 seconds for NJIT to escape with the 88-82 win, since Maine pumped 12 points through the net in the last 41 seconds.

NJIT, which pulled out of Bangor after the game, heading back home in the overnight, will play its next eight games in Newark. Seven of the games are on campus in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center, beginning Saturday at 2 pm against Lafayette.

The one "away" exception is on December 10, when Seton Hall hosts NJIT in downtown Newark at the Prudential Center.