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NEWARK, NJ – Sophomores Tim Coleman and Damon Lynn each scored 22 points, leading NJIT to a 78-73 victory over visiting Canisius in the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) Saturday night at the Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
With the win, the Highlanders (21-11) advance to the CIT semifinals, where they will face Northern Arizona on Tuesday night in Flagstaff. Northern Arizona (21-14) earned its berth in the semifinals with a 74-73 overtime victory at home against Kent State on Friday night. Tuesday's game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network cable channel with a scheduled start time of 9 pm EDT.
 
With Saturday night's loss at NJIT, Canisius completes its season with an 18-15 record.
 
The overflow attendance of 1,505 was the third consecutive standing-room only crowd in the Fleisher Athletic Center in its trio of CIT home games.
 
NJIT's Coleman made some huge plays down the stretch, including a steal with 39 seconds left, followed by a Canisius foul and then a pair of free throws that put NJIT up 73-67 with 37 ticks left on the clock. Earlier he made a steal and fast-break layup with 3:09 remaining.
 
Coleman shot 8-for-11 from the field, including 2-for-3 on 3-point tries, plus 4-for-6 at the foul line.
 
Lynn, the season's leading scorer for NJIT coming in (17.4 ppg), overcame a difficult shooting performance from the field, particularly in the first half, when he was off on 10 of his 12 field goal attempts. With part of his arsenal not working to its typical high standard, Lynn got his points at the foul line, where he shot 11-for-13, including 9-of-11 after halftime.
 
The sophomore, who has a knack for producing late in close games, did just that against Canisius, which led 60-54 after a layup by Jamal Reynolds with only 6:06 left in the game.
 
Lynn responded 18 seconds later by draining a deep 3-pointer that sparked a 15-2 winning burst by the Highlanders over the ensuing 4:11, as the Highlanders took a 69-62 lead just 97 seconds from the end.
 
Besides Coleman and Lynn, the Highlanders got 14 points from Winfield Willis. Coleman also grabbed 11 rebounds and had four steals for the winners.  Coleman's 11 boards vs. Canisius were his highest total against a Division I opponent and his 22 points were one shy of his career-best 23 points, done two games ago in the CIT first-round win against New Hampshire on March 16.

Canisius received 16 points from Kevin Bleeker and 13 from Kassius Robertson. Zach Lewis added 11 and Jeremiah Williams 10 for the Golden Griffins.
 
The Highlanders had the better part of the early going, jumping out to a 17-9 lead, thanks to seven points from Coleman.
 
But the Golden Griffins slowly crept back into the game, aggressively attacking the basket. Canisius scored six straight points, four on drives from Robertson and Lewis and two free throws from Jamal Reynolds. It capped a 14-4 run and enabled Canisius to take the lead at 23-21 with 6:35 left in the opening half.
 
The Griffins held the lead for the remainder of the half, scoring down low on consecutive trips by Adam Weir and Reynolds and pushing their lead to 31-26 with 1:46 remaining.
 
Canisius held a 35-31 lead at the break, marking the third time in as many CIT games that the Highlanders have gone into the locker room trailing at the break.
 
Eight of the nine Golden Griffins who saw action in the first half scored at least two points, with Bleeker's eight points leading the way. Willis had eight and Coleman seven at halftime to pace the Highlanders.
 
Canisius was awarded a two-shot administrative technical foul to start the second half and Lewis made both free throws. On the first possession, Josiah Heath made a steal at midcourt and steamrolled toward the basket, throwing down a thunderous dunk, giving the Golden Griffins a 39-31 lead just seconds into the second half.
 
But the Highlanders, using the 3-ball, came back to tie the game at 42-42 on the second of two consecutive 3-pointers by Coleman with 16:50 on the second-half clock.
 
The Highlanders actually took a 48-46 lead on a 3-pointer from junior guard Ky Howard, but then the Golden Griffins went on a 9-0 run in a strong bid to take command of the game. Five of the points came from reserve forward Jermaine Crumpton, who drained a 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key, then scored on a power move to make the score 53-48 at the 11:39 mark.
 
Williams made a steal and drove the length of the floor for the layup that gave Canisius a seemingly solid   55-48 lead with 11:45 remaining in regulation.
 
But the undaunted Highlanders came storming back to score the next six points and draw within 55-54 with 7:45 remaining. Senior forward Daquan Holiday had a reverse layup down low, Howard had a rebound basket and Coleman had a driving bucket that brought NJIT to within one once again.
 
The Highlanders then outscored the Griffins, 12-5, to take a 66-62 lead with 3:09 remaining. Coleman had a steal and layup to give the Highlanders their biggest lead since the first half.
 
After Lynn made one free throw, Holiday had a power move down low with 1:40 left to give the Highlanders a 69-62 lead.
 
The Highlanders then held off the Golden Griffins to secure the huge victory.
 
NJIT is now 15-2 at home in this record-setting season. The Highlanders, who will travel to Northern Arizona for Tuesday night's semifinal, have not played an away game since January 25, when they beat South Alabama in Mobile, 72-55.
 
They were scheduled to play all of their February games at home, but got an unexpected home date on March 4, when Howard was unable to host the Highlanders in Washington, DC, due to gym availability problems.
 
NJIT is 6-9 this season away from home, but the Highlanders got the greatest win in program history on the road, when they beat #17/#16 Michigan in Ann Arbor on December 6. They also got their first-ever win against a team from the well-regarded Atlantic 10 Conference away from home, winning at Duquesne. And the led then-#7 Villanova well into the second half before Nova ran away with a win in the last 13 minutes for a 92-67 victory.
 
Northern Arizona, which plays in the Big Sky Conference, will be a first-time opponent for the Highlanders.