Box Score


CHICAGO – Senior F Art Bernardi sunk a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to give the fourth-seeded Houston Baptist its first lead of the game and a trip to the Great West Conference Tournament Championship, as the Huskies upset top-seeded NJIT, 62-61, at the Jones Convocation Center on Friday.

HBU advances to the finals and a date with the host team, third-seeded Chicago State, which upended second-seeded Texas-Pan American, 63-55, in the nightcap.

The Highlanders were leading this second-round matchup, 61-60, when, during the frantic final moments of the contest, a non-shooting foul was called against sophomore F Odera Nweke for a slight push on Bernardi out beyond the perimeter.

Because HBU was in the double bonus, Bernardi was awarded the two shots that would ultimately sink the Highlanders. Though entering as just a .632 free-throw shooter, the All-GWC First-Team member drained both freebies and finished the game 8-for-9 from the line.

In fact, the Huskies, who came in with the second-lowest free-throw percentage in the conference (.649), connected on 21-of-23 (.913) attempts from the foul line to fuel an 11-point comeback and the eventual win.

Despite drastically out-shooting the Huskies from the floor (53.3 percent to 38.8 percent) and holding a rebounding edge (29 to 24), the foul differential (23 to 15) turned out to be the dictating factor in this contest.

Bernardi led all scorers with 18 points while also posting a game-high eight rebounds and team-high four assists. Freshmen Rob Lewis (12 points) and Dauson Womack (10 points) also tallied double digits.

Senior F Ryan Woods led the Highlanders with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting in his return from a shoulder injury. Senior G PJ Miller scored 15 points and senior G Chris Flores accumulated 10 points to pace the NJIT attack.

Junior F Quentin Bastian led the Highlanders with six rebounds, collected over just 14 minutes.

The loss may bring closure to the finest season in the history of NJIT men's basketball. The Highlanders won their first GWC regular-season championship and recorded a program-record 16 wins.

The team will now have to wait and see if they receive an invite to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) – the same round-robin which offers an automatic qualification to the winner of the GWC Tournament.

Last season, top-seeded Utah Valley was defeated by the Highlanders in its tournament opener – which was also a second-round game, and yet still received an at-large bid to the CIT. The Wolverines, however, did finish with 20 wins during the 2011-12 season.

In Friday's contest, NJIT got off to a fast start by scoring the first six points and holding HBU scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the game. Following their first points on a 14-footer by Nweke at 19:06, the Highlanders led for the next 35:34 of the contests with leads that swelled up to 11 points on four occasions.

Even after the Huskies first got on the board on a jumper by freshman Cody Joyce with 17:07 on the clock, the Highlanders reeled off the next five points.

The final basket during a game-starting 11-2 run came on a foul-line jumper by freshman F Terrence Smith, who was playing in his first game since Dec. 13 after missing 18 straight contests with a foot injury. Smith played five minutes and added a blocked shot in his long-awaited return.

The Highlanders' hot start continued through a breakaway layup by Woods off a long assist by Miller, putting NJIT up, 15-4, at 12:25 and forcing HBU into a timeout.

The stoppage halted the Highlanders momentum and the Huskies would whittle away at the deficit until pulling to within two points, 22-20, on a pair of free throws by Lewis with 5:32 remaining in the half.

NJIT responded by finishing the half with an 8-4 run and went into the break leading, 30-24.

The second half started nearly the same way as did the first, as the Highlanders went on a 7-2 run that culminated in five straight points by Flores to put NJIT back up by a game-high 11 points for a second time, 37-26, with 17:43 left to play.

The last 11-point advantage came on a tip-in by Bastian, putting the Highlanders up 44-33 with 14:36 remaining.

Then, came the foul shots. Then, came the comeback.

The Huskies methodically chipped away at the deficit — and, as a harbinger – it started with a pair of free-throws by Bernardi at 13:30. In fact, during a span of 10:07, HBU scored 14 of its next 20 points from the foul line.

Then, down three points, sophomore G Marcel Smith hit his lone three-point basket of the night to tie the game, 56-56, with 3:22 to go.

The teams exchanged a pair of layups over the next 2:00 with both of NJIT's hoops coming on drives by Miller.

Tied 60-60, freshman Ky Howard connected on one of two free throws to put the Highlanders up, 61-60, with 1:08 to go. On the Huskies' next possession, Nweke hustled for a steal and gave the Highlanders a chance to seal the game.

However, a missed layup by Flores gave HBU the ball back with 12 seconds to go and set-up the eventual foul call and free throws that ended NJIT's championship hopes.

Despite leading or being tied for the first 39:58 seconds of this contest, the Highlanders fell in the GWC Tournament at the hand of the Huskies for the third time in four meetings in the four seasons of the conference's existence.

Now, the Highlanders hope rest in the hands of the CIT directors, as the team awaits a possible at-large bid to the postseason tournament.

“This was certainly a disappointing way to end a really nice season,” Head Coach Jim Engles. “We had chances to seal this game late and just couldn't take advantage. We could have executed much better down the stretch. Either way, I'm certainly proud of our guys and our accomplishments this season.”


Write-up courtesy of Matt Provence