NEWARK, NJ—Junior Winfield Willis scored 11 points in each half and NJIT pulled away from a determined St. Joseph's Brooklyn, 79-60, in men's basketball Wednesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The win was the fifth in a row for the Highlanders, who moved to 10-9 on the season overall and 6-1 in home games. St. Joseph's drops to 9-6 with the defeat.
 
The five-game winning streak is NJIT's longest since the Highlanders also won five straight from February 6 through March 2, 2013.
 
In addition to the team-leading 22 points from Willis, the Highlanders got 15 points and 9 rebounds from Tim Coleman, who shared game rebounding honors with classmate Rob Ukawuba, who also poured in a career-best 12 points. Ukawuba set a personal career high with 4 assists, as well.
 
NJIT playing without its season assists leader, Ky Howard, who was sidelined by injury, was credited with 22 assists on its 30 baskets vs. St. Joe's. Willis collected 6 assists, while Damon Lynn picked up 5 assists.
 
The Highlanders held a 46-30 advantage in total team rebounds, paced by the 9 each for Coleman and Ukawuba, supported by a career-high 7 rebounds for Emmanuel Tselentakis. The junior from Greece also led the Highlanders in steals with three.

St. Joseph's, which is a member of both the United States Collegiate Athletic Association and NCAA Division III, lost despite a game-high 23 points from junior guard Matt O'Neill, who also pulled down 7 rebounds and made a game-high 4 steals.
 
Alec Willis, a freshman guard, added 17 points for the Bears, shooting 6-for-10 overall and 5-for-8 from 3-point range. O'Neill was 3-for-9 from downtown, meaning he and Alec Willis combined to shoot 8-for-17 on threes, while the rest of the team combined for two attempts, both of which missed.
 
O'Neill's seven rebounds tied him for the St. Joseph's lead with senior David Louison, who also scored 9 points and made 3 steals, while blocking a pair of shots.
 
Louison, who came in averaging a double-double for the season (14.5 points, 11.5 rebounds) was limited to 3-for-16 shooting from the floor. Michael Megafu, a junior who came in as the leading scorer for SJC at 16.9 points per game, was held to 5 points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field by the Highlanders.

St. Joseph's was a determined team from the outset, scoring the game's first basket, a fast-break layup for Alec Willis off of a steal and assist by O'Neill.
 
The Bears took what would be their biggest lead, 9-6, when O'Neill hit a 3-pointer with 13:46 and they stayed close for the entire first half, which ended with NJIT on top, 38-32.
 
Although the SJC lead was never big and the Bears trailed most of the game, they stayed close for a long time.
 
The score was tied at 32 when O'Neill made a pair of free throws with 4:50 left in the opening half, but  the Highlanders followed with a 6-0 run to complete the half.
 
The halftime box score showed O'Neill with a game-leading 16 points and 3 steals, followed by 8 points for Alec Willis, who was 3-for-4 from the field, including makes on both of his 3-point tries. O'Neill was 3-for-5 from downtown in the opening half, which ended with the visitors making 5-of-7 threes.
 
Winfield Willis scored 11 points to lead NJIT in the first half.
 
The visiting Bears would make just three of their 12 second-half three-point tries, but the three triples all came in the first 4:28 of the final half. The last one, by Alec Willis with 15:32 left, trimmed the Highlander lead to 48-45. To that juncture, the Bears were 8-for-11 from downtown, but they would miss all eight of their remaining 3-point tries.
 
Even though the 3-point baskets stopped for the Bears, it wasn't until later that NJIT finally pulled away for good.
 
Ukawuba answered the Alec Willis trey with a 3-pointer of his own for the Highlanders at the 12:42 mark. The Ukawuba three triggered an 11-2 run over a span of 3:34 that pushed NJIT's lead to double-figures, 59-47, following a Winfield Willis 3-pointer.
 
St. Joe's got some points back, but NJIT kept expanding its bulge, which reached a game-high 24 points, 77-53, on Odera Nweke's layup off an assist from Coleman with 3:25 remaining.
 
Beginning with Ukawuba's 3-pointer at 12:42, NJIT outscored the Bears, 31-15, to the final buzzer.
 
Next up for the Highlanders is a five-day road trip by bus for two games in northern New England. NJIT will visit Dartmouth in Hanover, NH, for a 4 pm game Saturday. After that, the Highlanders will head to Maine for a 1 pm game in Bangor on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in a holiday matinee on Monday.