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NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT men's basketball team hosts Maine Wednesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center, with tipoff slated for 7 o'clock in a contest where both teams are trying to find the right formula with the 2013-14 season approaching the end of its first full month.
The Highlanders (4-4) opened the season with five consecutive road games, but came home to Newark on a high note, sweeping all three games in a five day bus trip that began at Army, continued at New Hampshire and wrapped up with an exciting 88-82 win against Maine in Bangor.
With a 3-2 record before ever playing a home game, NJIT was looking at playing in Newark for six straight games, including a "road game" downtown in the Prudential Center to be hosted by Seton Hall on December 10.
Contributing to the optimism was the fact that the Highlanders were 15-4 in their 19 previous games on the Fleisher Family Court, a span that covered part of the 2011-12 season and all of 2012-13.
Things went as planned in a rousing 91-88 overtime victory over Lafayette in the home opener. But then the Highlanders fell 74-71 at home vs. Central Connecticut before Thanksgiving and then on Sunday, they lost their second matchup of the season against defending America East Conference champ UAlbany. Now, NJIT aims to snap the brief slide by facing Maine, the last team the Highlanders defeated.
Maine, meanwhile, is looking for the right formula as it plays a pair of road games far from home.
The loss to NJIT on November 19 was part of a losing streak that has hit four in a row, including the last three at home. Adding to the urgency for the 1-5 Black Bears is that their opponent after NJIT is UConn, currently ranked 12th in the country and likely to move up after beating Number 15 Florida. Maine will play at UConn two days after leaving Newark.
An explosive offensive team, Maine has four players averaging at least 12.6 points per game. The top man for the Black Bears is lanky sophomore wing player Dimitry Akanda-Coronel at 19.6 points per game. The Highlanders already got a taste of his talent when he scored a career-high 29 points in the November meeting. He scored 26 of his points in the second half, as Maine fought back from a 13-point halftime deficit and got to within 6 in the final minute.
Junior guard Xavier Pollard averages 15 ppg, but has missed three games, including the last one, a loss to Dartmouth on December 1. He did not play in the first game vs. NJIT, either, but is listed in Maine's probable starters for Wednesday.
Junior Zarko Valjarevic gets 12.8 ppg with narly two-thirds of his shots (42-of-64) coming from 3-point distance. Big guard Shaun Lawton rounds out the season scoring leaders, averaging 12.6 points. Big man Ethan Mackey, at 4.7 rebounds per game, leads Maine on the boards.
In beating Maine in Bangor last month, the Highlanders put five men in double-figure scoring—four starters and a sub. By contrast, NJIT, which has thrived on balance, had only one double-figure scorer in Sunday's loss to UAlbany.
The leading NJIT scorer in both games in question was freshman guard
Damon Lynn, who scored 24 at Maine and 24 on Sunday. His season average is 20.3 points per game and he has made 33 3-point shots, shooting better than 42 percent from distance, and is also hitting 83 percent of his free throws (29-of-35).
Sophomore
Terrence Smith, NJIT's best low post scorer, added 13.8 ppg and is the top rebounder with 5.6 per game. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first game vs. Maine.
Two other Highlanders are hovering just under 10 points per game.
Winfield Willis sits at 9.9 ppg and
Ky Howard is at 9.3 ppg. Willis netted 12 points against Maine and Howard had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Nigel Sydnor (6.8 ppg) finished with 13 points the first time he faced the Black Bears.
Matt Provence, voice of NJIT men's basketball, will be in the play-by-play chair for NJITHighlanders.com describing all the action live.
