NEWARK, NJ -- Coming off back-to-back, 20-win seasons and consecutive semifinal appearances in the
CollegeInsider.com National Postseason Tournament (CIT), the Highlanders open the 2016-17 campaign on Friday night against Sarah Lawrence (NY) College at Fleisher Athletic Center. Opening tip is set for 7:45 p.m.
Friday's contest will mark the debut of head coach
Brian Kennedy, who was introduced as the 11
th head coach in program history on April 15, 2016. Kennedy had served as the top assistant under the departed Jim Engles for the past four seasons, during which time the Highlanders posted an impressive 70-56 record. The Monmouth University product also spent time as an assistant at DePaul University from 1997-2002. During his tenure with the Blue Demons, Kennedy helped guide the program back to national prominence with the nation's Number 1 Recruiting Class in 1999, a Top-25 Ranking and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000.
The Gryphons represent one of two non-Division I foes that NJIT will play this season, with a home tilt vs. Dean College slated for Dec. 22. The Highlanders are 18-0 all-time vs. Division III opponents and 24-0 vs. non-Division I foes with an average margin of victory of 36.75 points.
With five points on Friday night, senior guard
Damon Lynn will set NJIT's Division I scoring record.
Chris Flores ('13) holds the current record with 1,724 career points. Lynn is also just 309 points away from the all-time school record of 2,028 points held by
Clarence Pierce ('96).
Next season, the Highlanders will open a state-of-the-art $102 M facility – the Wellness and Events Center – which will feature a 3,500-seat basketball arena. In the meantime, they will look to continue their dominance at Fleisher Athletic Center, where NJIT has won six of its last seven home games dating back to last season. In fact, the Highlanders sport a 75-31 (.708) home record since the start of the 2009-10 season, including a program-best 15-2 mark in 2014-15.
With a win on Friday, the Highlanders will earn their first victory in an opener since the school's Division I debut -- a 56-55 victory over Manhattan on Nov. 11, 2006. Last season, the Highlanders fell to No. 2 Kentucky, 87-57, at Rupp Arena to start the season.
The game will be shown live on
ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT home basketball games will be live on
ESPN3).
A simple way to find
ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website,
www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page
NJIT TV section, click
Upcoming Events for a list of scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the right of the event listing. That brings you to an
ESPN3 portal where you can access the desired program.
For more details on how to watch NJIT on
ESPN3, go to the section at the bottom of this page.
Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play with expert analysis from
Dave Calloway.
All-Time Series
This is NJIT's second all-time meeting with Sarah Lawrence College. On February 28, 2015, the Highlanders picked up a 90-55 victory over the Gryphons at Fleisher Athletic Center. In fact, that game marked the first time in school history that Sarah Lawrence had played a Divison I program.
Hooked on Gryphon-ics
Sarah Lawrence is a Division III member and competes in the Skyline Conference, which is comprised of 11 full-time members and five part-time members in the New York City area.
The Gryphons are coming off a 5-20 season in 2015-16, but return their top five and six of the top seven scorers from that squad.
Graham Gilleran and
Stevan Radosavljevic led the way for the team offensively last season averaging 11.4 ppg and 11.0 ppg, respectively.
Gilleran, the 2014 Newcomer of the Year, topped the Gryphons with 14 points in the only previous meeting against NJIT.
The team has some international flavor, as the roster has representation from Hong Kong (
Justice Nikkel), Japan (
Eamon Collins) and Serbia (Radosavljevic).
Sarah Lawrence is piloted by head coach
Chris Ehmers who also serves as the Assistant Director of Athletics. Ehmers enters his sixth season at the helm of the Gryphons and is the winningest coach in program history. In 2013-14, he led the team to double-digit wins (10) for the first time ever.
NJIT Outlook
The Highlanders return their top two scorers as well as five of their top eight point leaders from a team that posted a 20-win season and finished tied for second in their inaugural year in the ASUN Conference.
Lynn (18.3 ppg) and
Tim Coleman (13.8 ppg) paced the team offensively a year ago and both return for their senior seasons. Coleman also led the squad in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game.
In 2015-16, NJIT knocked down 35.4% of their three-pointers and bring back the top three players in terms of triples made: Lynn (116),
Chris Jenkins (57) and Coleman (47).
Friday also marks the NJIT debut of Newark native
Abdul Lewis who sat out last season per NCAA rules after transferring from the University of South Alabama. In 2014-15, Lewis averaged 7.0 ppg and 6.7 rpg for the Jaguars. The sophomore forward won a pair of state titles for Newark East Side High School.
NJIT Team Stats and Leaders (All Stats From 2015-16):
Scoring (Team 75.1 ppg; +1.2 ppg): Lynn (18.2 ppg), Coleman (13.8 ppg),
Ky Howard (12.7 ppg-graduated);
Winfield Willis (10.3 ppg-graduated)
Rebounding (team 34.7 rpg; -1.7 rpg): Coleman (7.5 ppg), Howard (4.6 rpg),
Terrence Smith (4.2 rpg-graduated)
Assists: Howard (154), Lynn (114)
Blocks: Coleman (32),
Mohamed Bendary (18)
Steals: Lynn (56), Coleman (51)
3-PT FGM: Lynn (116), Jenkins (57), Coleman (47)
Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry
#NewarksTeam
