Game Notes (PDF)


LOWELL, MA -- The Highlanders (4-4) will hit the road to battle UMass Lowell (2-6) Saturday afternoon. Opening tip from the Tsongas Center in Lowell is slated for 2 p.m.
 
With a win, NJIT will notch their first road win of the season.
 
NJIT is coming off a 83-70 win over St. Francis (PA) on Wednesday night while UMass Lowell fell to Marist by a score of 81-69 last time out.
 
The game can be seen live on ESPN3 as produced by UMass Lowell.
 
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.
 
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, will be on the audio call with the pregame show beginning at 1:45 p.m. The broadcast can be accessed for free at www.njithighlanders.com or by clicking here.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
 
The Highlanders are 2-3 all-time against UMass Lowell, but led wire-to-wire in a 90-77 win over the River Hawks on Dec. 5, 2015 at Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
A win on Saturday would give NJIT their first ever road victory in the series.
 
In last season's meeting, Winfield Willis paced the Highlanders with 23 points while Ky Howard (15 points), senior forward Tim Coleman (15 points) and senior guard Damon Lynn (14 points) also finished in double figures.
 
Sophomore forward Josh Gantz led the way for UMass Lowell with 18 points and senior forward Tyler Livingston chipped in with 14 points of his own.
 
NJIT is 11-20 all-time against America East foes and went 2-2 against the conference in 2015-16 with wins over UMass Lowell and UMBC.
 
Binghamton is the only member of the conference that the Highlanders have never played.
 
RIVER HAWK DOWN
 
Junior guard Jahad Thomas paced the River Hawks with a game-high 23 points in the 81-69 loss at Marist on Tuesday night. Junior guard Matt Harris and freshman forward Cameron Wolter added 14 and 12 points off the bench.
 
UMass Lowell will be looking to snap a two-game skid on Saturday afternoon after losses to LIU Brooklyn and Marist. In fact, the River Hawks have dropped five of their last six contests.
 
Thomas-a All-America East Second Team selection last season- currently leads the River Hawks in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and assists (3.6 apg). Harris (12.5 ppg) and Livingston (12.5 ppg) also average double figures in points.
 
2016-17 marks just the fourth season at the Divison I level for UMass Lowell after previously being a member of the Northeast-10 conference at the Division II level.
 
Head coach Pat Duquette is in his fourth season at the helm of the River Hawks and led his team to a 68-66 win over Boston College last season during a 11-18 campaign (7-9 AEC).
 
Before coming to Lowell, Duquette spent 16 years as an assistant with stints at BC (1997-2010) and Northeastern (2010-13).
 
During his time at BC, the Dalton, Mass., native was a part of seven NCAA Tournament teams and three Big East Championship teams including a Sweet 16 berth in 2006.
 
Assistant coaches Louis Hinnant and Biko Paris both played at Boston College during Duqette's tenure as an assistant under head coach Al Skinner.
 
Sophomore guard Ryan Jones' father, Michael, played college football at Wisconsin and spent time in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers.
 
NJIT OUTLOOK
 
NJIT used a 14-5 run in the second half to pull away from St. Francis (PA) in an 83-70 victory over the Red Flash on Wednesday night at Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Coleman tied his career-high with 27 points in the win and also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Lynn contributed 18 points of his own for head coach Brian Kennedy's squad.
 
Coleman had previously scored 27 on Dec. 10, 2015 at St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
The Highlanders shot 60.0% from the field in the second half while holding St. Francis (PA) to a 40.0% clip from the field.
 
NJIT knocked down 10-of-21 (47.6%) from beyond the arc including three triples from Lynn and a pair from junior guard/forward Chris Jenkins

With 18 points on Wednesday, senior Damon Lynn passed Howard University's James Daniel for the D-I active career points lead with 1,906, The co-captain is just four points away from passing Demond Cowins '04 for second place on NJIT's all-time career scoring list (1922 to present).

Earlier in his career, NJIT first-year assistant coach Jeff Rafferty spent four years as the top assistant at UMass Lowell when that program competed in Division II. In his time at UML, the River Hawks were a combined 94-30 and made back-to-back trips to the Division II national Elite Eight in 2003 and 2004.


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry,