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DURHAM, NC—NJIT men's basketball begins its two-game swing to North Carolina when it visits North Carolina Central University for a 7 pm game Thursday night. The Highlanders will continue the trip with a 7 pm game at North Carolina A&T Saturday in Greensboro.

Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, will provide live play-by-play audio of the game here on www.NJITHighlanders.com with coverage beginning at least 15 minutes before the contest on Thursday.

Both North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a group of historically black college and universities that stretch up and down the East Coast, from the mid-Atlantic region south to Florida.

This season, NJIT men's basketball has five games scheduled against MEAC teams. Later, the Highlanders will visit Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore and will host North Carolina Central in a return match in the home finale in Newark on February 25.

NJIT and North Carolina Central have never played in men's basketball, although NJIT baseball has opened the last two seasons at NCCU and is scheduled to do so again this year.

The Eagles are having a fine season to date, posting a 9-5 overall record that includes a stunning win at North Carolina State of the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. NCCU has fashioned its winning record despite playing road games against powerful programs such as NC State, Cincinnati, Maryland, and Wichita State, which is now ranked 5th in the nation and undefeated at 17-0 and was ranked 9th and 11th, respectively, in the two national polls when it hosted North Carolina Central.

Senior Jeremy Ingram, a 6-foot-3 guard, is having a sensational year. He scored 29 at Cincinnati, 29 at North Carolina State, 36 at Appalachian State, and 37 at Wichita State. A brief recent scoring slump has knocked down his average, but he is still getting 19.9 points per game.

Senior point guard Emmanuel Chapman is ranked fifth in the nation with 7.2 assists per game, totaling 101 assists through 14 games. Another senior guard, Alfonzo Houston is averaging 11.2 points.

Up front, the Eagles are outrebounding their opponents 36.5-to-33.9, despite a schedule that includes so many big-time foes. Jay Copeland (6.5 rpg) is the top individual.

NCCU has a rich history in basketball as the alma mater of Hall of Famer Sam Jones, who was a top guard on the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1960s. The Eagles were later NCAA Division II National Champion in 1989.

NJIT's top scorer is freshman Damon Lynn (16.2 ppg), who has connected on 62 3-point baskets two-thirds through his first college season. On the inside, sophomore Terrence Smith averages 12.7 points while making 59 percent of his shots from the floor and 82 percent at the foul line. He is NJIT's top rebounder (6.1 rpg).

Winfield Willis (9.9 ppg) is one point shy of being a third double-figure scorer, while assists leader Ky Howard averages 9.3 points to go with is team-best 65 assists.rounds out the trio of double-figure scorers at exactly 10 points per game.