Box Score Game Highlights (Video)
Lynn's Game-Winning Three-Pointer
Jim Engles Postgame (Video)
South Florida Photo Gallery
TAMPA, FL—NJIT junior guard
Damon Lynn lived up to the adage 'great players make great plays', hitting a 3-point basket with 48 seconds left to put the visiting Highlanders ahead to stay in their 60-57 non-conference men's basketball win over South Florida Monday night in the Sun Dome.
Lynn, whose game-high 27 points equaled USF's top two scorers combined, hit what proved to be the game-winner from the left elbow beyond the 3-point arc, as the Highlanders (1-1) staged a late rally after trailing by 10 points with 6:05 remaining and by 6 with under two minutes left.
USF (0-2), which plays in the high-major American Athletic Conference along with the likes of UConn and SMU, scored what would be its last point on a free throw by Angel Nunez for a 57-51 lead with 2:21 on the clock.
Junior center
Terrence Smith, who was fouled on the second of two offensive rebounds, later made a free throw to begin NJIT's game-winning rally and
Ky Howard drained a 3-point to trim the Highlander deficit to 57-55 with 73 seconds left in the game.
Howard, the do-it-all senior point guard, then stole the ball from Bo Zeigler of the Bulls at the one-minute mark and Lynn followed with his fifth 3-pointer of the night 12 seconds after the Howard steal, putting NJIT up 58-57.
Another USF turnover put the ball back in Howard's hands and he was fouled, earning and making two free throws that gave the Highlanders a 60-57 advantage with 17 seconds left.
That meant the home team needed a 3-pointer on its last possession and the Bulls misfired twice from long distance before NJIT's
Winfield Willis secured the defensive rebound and the final horn sounded.
Lynn, who had trouble getting his shots to fall in the early going, wound up shooting a solid 9-for-20 from the floor, including 5-for-12 from distance, plus 4-for-5 at the foul line for his game-high 27 points. It was the 27th time in Lynn's 64-game NJIT career that he has scored at least 20 points. He scored 19 in the 2015-16 season opener at #2 Kentucky.
Howard was the only other double-figure scorer for the Highlanders with 10 points, but the 6-foot-4 guard also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to complete his third career double-double. Howard also made a game-high 4 steals, as did NJIT's other senior guard Willis, who finished with 7 points.
NJIT, which was badly rebounded (54-23) in its season-opening 87-57 loss at big and ultra-talented Kentucky, was slightly outrebounded (40-36) by another much bigger team in USF. But in the important second-chance points category, the Highlanders came out on top, 14-8.
USF had three double-figure scorers in the game, led by freshman guard Jahmal McMurray's 14 points off the bench. McMurray, who also led the Bulls scoring in their season-opening loss against Troy, scored 11 of his points in the second half, but was one of the Bulls who misfired from downtown on their last possession down by three.
Another newcomer, Roddy Peters, a sophomore who transferred to USF from Maryland, added 13 points for the Bulls and Nunez, a 6-foot-8 senior from Washington Heights in Manhattan, finished with 11 points.
Peters, who is a 6-foot-4 guard, was the top rebounder for USF, with eight. In fact, Peters wasn't far off of a triple-double in his second game for the Bulls, with a game-high 10 assists to go with his 13 points and 8 boards. He also made a pair of steals, as did Nunez.
NJIT's late game-winning comeback was not the first rally of the night for the Highlanders. In the first half, they were stuck at 6 points for a long time, from the 15:20 mark all the way until the 7:30 mark, when freshman
Mohamed Bendary, who had scored the fifth and sixth NJIT points, broke the ice with another layup.
By the time of Bendary's second bucket, NJIT was down 19-6. The Highlanders eventually fell into a 23-8 hole to drop behind by 15 points with 6:29 showing on the first-half clock. NJIT then closed the opening half with a 16-4 spurt over the last 6:08 to trail at the break, 27-24.
Lynn's eight points for the Highlanders were tops at halftime, a point behind a game-best 9 for USF's Nunez.
The score was tied at 31 apiece early in the second half and was still close when MacMurray's 3-point bucket gave USF a 39-38 advantage with 12:18 remaining.
That 3-pointer sparked a 13-0 rally that put the Bulls on top 49-38 after Zigler's dunk at the 7:48 mark. However, NJIT's game-winning comeback began less than two minutes later.
NJIT will return to Newark and play its opening home game on Thursday in a start scheduled for a 7:30 pm tip against Boston University in the Fleisher Athletic Center. The game vs. BU, which is part of a Thursday night doubleheader, will be preceded by a special ceremonial unveiling of a banner commemorating NJIT's historic run to the semifinals of the national CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament last March.
The doubleheader will begin at 5 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center, when the Highlander women play their home opener, as they host their counterparts from Lehigh.
NJIT is aiming for a big crowd like the ones that cheered the Highlanders to a series of rousing victories last Spring.
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