Game Highlights (Video)

(game photos courtesy of FGCU Athletics Communication/Linwood Feguson, captivephotons.com)


FORT MYERS, FL—If it was simply a question of grit and determination, the NJIT men would have prevailed Thursday night in their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference away game. But sometimes it takes more to beat a strong team on the road and the Highlanders fell at Florida Gulf Coast University, 82-78, in overtime.
 
Trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half and by a 41-29 score at the half, the visiting Highlanders fought back to tie with less than a second remaining in regulation, forcing overtime. In fact, NJIT did not take its first lead until Ky Howard's layup made it 73-71 with 3:42 left in overtime.
 
The Highlanders took a 76-73 advantage at the 3:00 mark of OT, but battle-tested FGCU, which is now 25-2 since 2012-13 in Atlantic Sun home games, outscored NJIT the rest of the way, 9-2.
 
The Eagles, now 2-0 in the A-Sun, lifted their overall record to 11-7 with their fifth-consecutive win, all at home. NJIT, which has an 80-78 loss at home on a tip-in with 4/10 of a second left and now this overtime loss to show at the beginning of its first A-Sun season, drops to 9-9 overall.
 
The back-to-back heartbreakers have left the Highlanders with three defeats in a row for the first time since a three-game skid between November 11 and November 24, 2014.
 
NJIT lost Thursday despite a game-high 22 points for junior Damon Lynn, who scored 16 in the second-half comeback, including a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and two free throws with less than a second remaining that forced overtime.
 
Ky Howard, with 16 points was another second-half hero, making all six of his free throws in the period, including three between the 2:48 and 1:59 marks when NJIT was closing a 65-56 deficit to 67-61.
 
Junior Terrence Smith, back in his home state--Smith hails from Fort Lauderdale--had his best game this season, scoring 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor and grabbing a game-best 14 rebounds. The 15 points vs. FGCU were the Smith's second-highest total this season (scored 17 against Lafayette back before Thanksgiving). And the 14 rebounds were more than double his previous season-high of 6. In fact, the 14 boards were a new career-best for the junior, whose previous best was 11 at St. Francis Brooklyn in December 2013. He missed all of last season due to foot surgery.
 
Chris Jenkins, Lynn's buddy since grade school, came off the Highlander bench for 12 points, all coming on 3-pointers, which combined with Lynn's 6 baskets from downtown, gave the Hillside, NJ, duo 10 of NJIT's 11 treys on the night.
 
Tim Coleman added 11 points, giving the visitors five double-figure scorers. However, their wasn't much more, as the five double-figure scorers accounted for 76 of NJIT's 78 total points.
 
Despite the heroic comeback attempt, NJIT was not up against just any opponent. In addition to winning 25 of its last 27 A-Sun home games, Florida Gulf Coast is now 43-3 when leading at the half under third-year head coach Joe Dooley. Well on the way to a fourth-straight 20-win season, the Eagles are second only to national power Florida in wins among the Sunshine State's 13 Division I programs since the start of 2013-14.
 
FGCU had five double-figure scorers, led by redshirt senior Marc-Eddy Norelia's 18 points. Redshirt freshman Zach Johnson added 16 points in 31 minutes coming off the Eagles bench, while three other starters--Julian Debose (15 points), Christian Terrell (12 points), and Antravious Simmons (10 points)—all reached double figures.
 
Norelia, a 6-foot-8 forward who has two A-Sun Player of the Week awards this season, came down with a team-high 13 rebounds, five on the offensive side of the court, to lead FGCU to a 50-40 advantage on the glass.
 
Despite the loss, NJIT could take some good things out of its first A-Sun road game, such as clawing back from a 21-point deficit to force overtime against a quality opponent that is especially tough on its home court, Alico Arena, filled to just shy of its seating capacity, with 4,124 fans on hand Thursday.
 
On the flip side, the Highlanders and their fans are left wondering what would have happened if the comeback had started just a bit sooner than it did.
 
FGCU scored the game's first six points and took advantage of the cold-shooting Highlanders to go up 39-18 after Norelia nailed a jump shot with 3:02 left in the opening half.
 
NJIT responded with an 11-0 run, as four different Highlanders rang the bell, before Johnson beat his defender on the perimeter and took a clear path to the rim for a dunk that left FGCU with a 41-29 halftime lead, marking the sixth-straight game the Highlanders have trailed at the break.
 
They began the dangerous habit at home against Stony Brook on December 28, conceding the first 14 points in a game they lost 83-61. On December 30 at Saint Francis, they opened down 13-5 and trailed at the half, 42-35, before rallying for a 77-65 win.
 
Back home vs. UMBC, NJIT fell into a 15-4 hole less than 5 minutes in, but trailed by a point at halftime before scoring an 86-83 victory. On January 6, in NJIT's last pre-conference tilt, Ivy League favorite Yale led by as many as 13 in the opening half and was up 38-33 at the half before pulling away in the second half.
 
The trend continued with the advent of Atlantic Sun play last Saturday at home vs. USC Upstate. In that one, the Spartans went ahead 46-33 at halftime, a lead that grew to 50-33 in the first minute of the second half. Again, NJIT rallied and took a one-point lead with 2:20 left, only to lose on a tip-in with 4/10 of a second to play.
 
Fast forward to Thursday at FGCU and the Highlanders, down 12 at the half, slipped back to a 49-34 deficit when Simmons scored for the Eagles at the 16:12 mark of the second half.
 
NJIT didn't get to within single-digits until a Smith put-back made it 57-49 with 10:26 on the clock. Later on, the home team went up by as many as 12 and led 65-54 after Johnson's jumper with just 3:36 left.
 
But with Lynn scoring 8 points and Howard 5 in the last 1:59 of regulation, the Highlanders sent the game to overtime.
 
NJIT made its first two overtime shots, a driving layup by Howard and a 3-pointer by Jenkins that gave the Highlanders their biggest lead of the night at 76-73. But they made just one of their remaining five attempts from the floor, didn't get a foul shot, and turned the ball over once in the three minutes that followed the Jenkins triple. Simmons put the Eagles ahead to stay when his two free throws with 1:49 remaining gave FGCU a 77-76 edge.
 
The Highlanders will stay in Florida, visiting first-time opponent Stetson in De Land for a 3:15 pm game on Saturday. That's part of an A-Sun women's/men's doubleheader, with the NJIT and Stetson women tipping off at 1 pm.
 
The Stetson men, 7-11 overall, are 1-2 in the A-Sun. They lost to defending champ North Florida last week before falling by nearly 30 points, 82-53, at FGCU last Saturday. The Hatters got into the conference wins column Thursday night at home with an 89-86 home win over USC Upstate, the team that edged NJIT last Saturday in Newark.