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NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT men's basketball team, which won four in a row before dropping a 74-71 decision to Central Connecticut State last Tuesday, faces a tall order in its bid to get back on the winning side, as the Highlanders host defending America East Conference champion UAlbany at 2 pm Sunday in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher.
 
Sunday's tilt will be a rematch of one of NJIT's earlier losses, when the Great Danes came from behind to top the Highlanders, 71-65, on November 12 in Albany, NY.
 
That defeat in New York's capital city left the Highlanders with an 0-2 start, but they recovered to win the next four games, including a 3-games-in-5-days road sweep of Army, New Hampshire, and Maine from November 15 to 19. The streak ended two days before Thanksgiving, when Central Connecticut held off a late surge by NJIT to escape Newark with a slim victory.
 
In the earlier game between the Highlanders and Great Danes, NJIT held a 3-point edge with 2:14, but UAlbany finished the game on a 12-3 run to pull out the victory. Albany's DJ Evans led all scorers with a career-best 20 points, followed by Australian imports Peter Hooley (13 points, all in the second half) and Sam Rowley (12 points).
 
NJIT got 19 points from Terrence Smith, who made 8-of-13 shots from the field, 15 from Ky Howard, who was 6-for-7, and 14 from Damon Lynn.
 
After coming back to edge NJIT, the Great Danes dropped their next three, falling to Quinnipiac, Duquesne, and Bucknell, before winning at Rider, 70-59, the same night the Highlanders lost to Central Connecticut.
 
Hooley, with at least 21 points in each of the last 3 games, is one of four Great Danes averaging double-figure scoring. He gets 17.3 ppg, followed by Rowley (12.8), Evans (10.8) and Johnson (10.0). Rowley's 7.8 rebounds per game are also tops on UAlbany.
 
NJIT, too, has four men averaging 10.1 points or more. Lynn, the explosive freshman, gets 19.7 ppg, while Smith chips in a strong 14.7 ppg from the low post. Winfield Willis who has come off the bench after starting the season opener, adds 10.4 ppg and Howard averages 10.1 points, combined with a team-leading 28 assists and strong rebounding production for a guard at 4.6 rpg. Smith's 5.4 rpg pace the Highlanders in that category.
 
Matt Provence, voice of NJIT men's basketball will be in the play-by-play chair for NJITHighlanders.com describing all the action live.