NJIT Men's Basketball CollegeInsider.com Tournament Gameday Information
 

Game 31	Cleveland State (19-14) at NJIT (19-11)
Date/Time	Monday, March 23, 2015 | 7 pm
Location/Arena	Newark, NJ | Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center
Live Video/Audio	Highlander Sports Network w/ Matt Provence pbp (subscription charges apply)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-Time Series	First meeting
Game Notes	NJIT game notes | Cleveland State game notes

 
Don't be left out
A sellout is expected.
 
However, a limited number of remaining tickets will be sold on Monday in person in the Athletic Department office on the 2nd floor of the Fleisher Athletic Center, or tickets can be purchased online. Tickets Going Fast! PURCHASE TICKETS 
 
All fans, including NJIT students, are urged to get their tickets early to avoid being shut out.

Any remaining tickets will be sold in the Fleisher Athletic Center ticket lobby at game time

Ticket prices are:
--Adults $15
--Children 12 and under $10
--NJIT Faculty and Staff $10.
--NJIT students with valid ID free of charge; students may obtain ticket vouchers in advance.
--"Hollywood" courtside seats $50 (sold on a first-come, first-served basis; padded sideline-style chair, reserved: limited number available)
 
Special youth/group tickets are also available.

For more information, please call NJIT Athletics at 973-642-7224.
 
NEWARK, NJ—--NJIT, the last Division I men's basketball program still playing of the 21 in the Metropolitan area, will face a big challenge from rugged Cleveland State in Round 2 of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com postseason men's basketball tournament (CIT) when the Vikings invade Fleisher Athletic Center Monday at 7 pm.
 
NJIT got to this point with a record-setting 18-11 regular season followed by an 84-77 win last Monday over New Hampshire in front of a sold out home crowd that saw the first-ever national Division I postseason game for the Highlanders.
 
Most noteworthy in the regular season, of course, was a 72-70 win at Michigan, ranked #17 and #16 in the two top national polls at the time, on December 6 in Ann Arbor. That stunning victory, termed one of the greatest regular college basketball upsets of all time by many experts, placed the Highlanders at the top of the college sports news and drew national and international attention to NJIT.
 
Three days after beating Michigan, the Highlanders came home and edged St. Francis Brooklyn, which went on to win the regular season championship of the Northeast Conference. A month later, on January 9, NJIT scored a big 78-71 win over Yale, which would go on to be co-champion of the Ivy League. On February 2, the Highlanders routed Hampton, 86-67. Hampton won the tournament championship of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and will represent the MEAC in the 2015 NCAA Division I Tournament.
 
The wins over Yale and Hampton were part of a second half of the schedule in which NJIT was 13-2 (now 14-2 with the CIT win) from December 30 on.
 
NJIT will dress four players averaging at least 11.1 points per game vs. Cleveland State, topped by sophomore guard Damon Lynn's 17.5 points per game. Lynn, who is the first player in NJIT history at any level to reach 1,000 career points in his sophomore season, has made a school-record 118 3-point baskets this season after making 107 as a freshman (set the school record). In addition to his school-record for 3-pointers, Lynn has 114 assists, the most in NJIT's Division I era. On the other end of the floor, he has a team-leading 52 steals. Damon is second in the nation in total 3-pointers and in 3-pointers per game,
 
Junior Winfield Willis is next on the season scoring list at 12 ppg and he has made 51 3-pointers and is shooting 85 percent at the foul line (78-92), while making 47 percent of his shots from the field.
 
Ky Howard was out of the mix for a long time, missing every game from January 14 through February 28, before returning from injury in the regular season finale. In the CIT game vs. UNH, his second after a 10-game absence, he came close to posting what would have been the program's first DI triple-double. As it was, he had his second double-double of the season, with 10 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and a game-high 7 assists.
 
The junior averages 11.3 points and a team-leading 6 rebounds, while ranking second in assists (84; he led the team at the time of his injury).
 
Tim Coleman, who raised his game to a different level beginning with a 12-point, 4-assist, 2-block game before Christmas against Villanova (a #1 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament), is averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds, while making 55 percent of his shots from the field, including 30 3-point baskets. He also has 42 blocked shots, second on the team to senior Daquan Holiday's 44. Coleman scored a career-best 23 points and added 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in the CIT win.
 
Cleveland State
"Know your enemy", wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War more than 2,000 years before basketball was invented. Centuries later, coaches have embraced the concept, learning everything they can about their opponents. For this game, however, there's a high level of unfamiliarity for both sides, aside from stats and video.
 
Not only has NJIT never faced Cleveland State on the hardwood, but the Highlanders have never faced any of the other eight teams in CSU's Midwest-based Horizon League … There are no common opponents on Cleveland State's non-conference schedule, either.
 
--Not surprisingly, there is a heavy Midwest flavor to the Cleveland State roster, which also has three internationals. The Vikings have no players from the East (NJIT has none from the Midwest, either).
 
However, coach Gary Waters is well-known in New Jersey basketball circles from his time as head coach of Rutgers (2001-06). In five years as Scarlet Knights coach, Waters led Rutgers to 3 NIT berths, reaching the 2004 NIT Championship Game. … A native of Detroit, he went to Cleveland State in 2006-07 and has led the Vikings to 6 postseason berths in 9 seasons (including 2009 NCAA Trn 2nd Round). Further a win over NJIT would 20 this season, CSU's 6th 20-win season out of 9 (high of 27 in 2010-11)
 
Junior G Trey Lewis and junior F Anton Grady were both named to the 5-man All-Horizon League 1st team. … Grady and senior Charlie Lee were named to the Horizon All-Defensive team. … CSU tied for 3rd place in the Horizon League regular season and was eliminated in the semifinals of the league tournament by eventual champ Valparaiso, 60-55 … The Vikings got to the CIT Round of 16 by trouncing Western Michigan 86-57 on the road two days after NJIT beat New Hampshire to advance.
 
CSU team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 67.2 ppg; +6.0 ppg): Trey Lewis (6-2, Jr, G; 16.6 ppg); Anton Grady (6-8, Jr, F: 13.9 ppg); Charlie Lee  (5-8, Sr, G; 12.9 ppg)
Rebounding (team 32.5 rpg; +1.1 rpg): Grady (7.8 rpg); Marlin Mason (6-6, Sr., F; 4.8 rpg) 
Assists: Lee (108); Lewis (94)
Blocks: Grady (45); Mason (32)
Steals: Grady (50); Andre Yates (6-2, So, G; 45); Lewis (41)
3-pt FGM:  Lewis (95; school season record; tied for 21st in national Division I rankings)
 
Matt Provence will provide live play-by-play on the here on www.njjthighlanders.com. Programming is scheduled to begin at least 15 minutes before tipoff.