Box Score (HTML)

NEWARK, NJ—Damon Lynn scored a game-high 23 points and Winfield Willis added 20 for NJIT in an 89-55 men's basketball win over visiting Maine Fort Kent Monday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The third double-figure scorer for NJIT (16-11) was sophomore forward Tim Coleman, who chipped in 10 points while also grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and the second of his career.
 
Lynn scored all but two of his points on 3-point shots, hitting 7-of-10 from downtown and extending his NCAA Division I season-leading total from beyond the arc to 106, one shy of the school-record 107 threes he made as a freshman last season. Lynn also had 5 assists Monday, bringing his season total in that category to 104, which is one short of the NJIT Division I-record 105 assists set by Ky Howard last season.
 
Willis shot 8-for-10 from the floor, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers in scoring his 20 points and he also collected 5 assists for the Highlanders, whose 16 wins matches the best in a season since the program moved to NCAA Division I in 2006-07 (the 2012-13 Highlanders finished 16-13). NJIT has two regular season games remaining in 2014-15.
 
Maine Fort Kent, which belongs to the small-college United States Collegiate Athletic Association, is 9-12 on the season. The Bengals got 13 points apiece from sophomore forward Joe McCloskey and junior guard Mauro Vicic. McCloskey finished with a game-best 12 rebounds for a double-double in his first game against an NCAA Division I opponent.
 
NJIT made 63 percent (17-27) of its first-half shots from the field, including 6-for-10 on 3-pointers, plus 6-for-7 at the foul line in the opening half, but it took some time for the Highlanders to gain some separation before they took a 46-31 lead with them into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Highlanders scored the game's first four points, but the Tigers hung in and trailed just 22-20 when James Givens made a jump shot just past the midpoint of the first half.
 
NJIT answered that incursion with a 13-3 spurt in a span of five minutes, capped by traditional 3-point play for Willis that made it 35-23, Highlanders, with 4:04 remaining on the first-half clock.
 
Maine Fort Kent continued to compete and trimmed its deficit to 9 points after McCloskey's traditional 3-point play with 1:46 left in the half. The Highlanders then closed out the half on an 8-2 run, including a length-of-the-floor fast break in less than five seconds, starting  with a defensive rebound for Osa Izevbuwa, who fed Willis for a layup ahead of the buzzer.
 
Lynn was the game's leading scorer at the break with 15 points, all on 5-for-6 shooting from distance, while Willis had 12 points after making all five of his shots from the field, including a three, and also his only free throw.
 
McCloskey and Vicic each had 9 first-half points for the Tigers.
 
The Highlanders began the second half on an 8-0 run, pushing the lead to 54-31 just 2:59 into the period. NJIT led by at least 21 the rest of the way and built its biggest bulge, 34 points, in the closing minute with what would be the final score, 89-55.
 
The Highlanders, who have just two regular season games remaining, will not play again for 12 days, returning to host Sarah Lawrence College on Senior Day, Saturday, February 28, at 2:30 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.