Post game interview

Video highlights of NJIT vs. Army West Point

Photo gallery of NJIT vs. Army West Point

NEWARK, NJ-Junior Terrence Smith led four double-figure scorers for NJIT, netting a season-high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor, in his team's 79-65 victory over visiting Army West Point Wednesday night in the opening round of the 2016 CollegeInsider.com national postseason tournament.

Smith, who missed the last three regular season games in February due to injury and played just 13 minutes in NJIT's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament loss on March 1, seemed to benefit from the rest that came with the layoff and a force inside for NJIT (18-14) Wednesday night.

He was followed in the scoring by juniors Tim Coleman and Damon Lynn, who each collected 16 points, and by classmate Rob Ukawuba, who scored 13 coming off the Highlanders bench.

Coleman, who played through a variety of injuries down the stretch in the regular season, added a game-high 14 rebounds for NJIT, matching his career high, plus four steals.

Coleman also passed the 1,000-point mark for his career, becoming the sixth player to reach 1,000 career points for the Highlanders since the program began Division I competition in 2006-07. Named the CIT All-Tournament team in 2015, he has 1,010 career points.

Lynn, who played all 40 minutes vs. Army, added a game-high 7 assists to his 16 points. Lynn also made two 3-point baskets, giving him 101 for the season, his third time in as many years with at least 100 3-point baskets. He is the second-leading active national Division I career leader with 334 3-pointers.

Lynn's 16 points on Wednesday raised his season's total to 582 points this year, breaking his own program record of 578 points, set last season.

Army (19-14), making its first national postseason appearance since the 1978 National Invitation Tournament, lost Wednesday despite a game-high 20 points from senior forward Tanner Plomb, the leading scorer in the Patriot League this season.

The only other double-figure scorer for the Black Knights was sophomore Luke Morrison, who netted 12 points off the bench.

NJIT, which never trailed, led by as many as nine points in the opening half, 26-17, after two free throws by Coleman with 8:35 left. But Army managed to stay close and trailed just 40-37 at halftime.

Plomb had 12 points to lead all scorers at the break and Lynn's 11 points were tops for the Highlanders, followed closely by 10 for Smith.

The Highlanders seized the upper hand early in the second half, outscoring the visitors 13-5 in the opening 3:01 for a 53-42 lead with 16:59 left, prompting an Army timeout.

Coleman extended the lead with two foul shots 24 seconds later. But Army battled back and closed the deficit to 64-61 after back-to-back 3-pointers, the second by Morrison with 9:07 remaining.

The Highlanders answered with a 7-0 spurt in 83 seconds, pushing their lead back to 73-63 after Coleman's three with 6:37 left.

Army got what would be its last points of the game on an alley-oop dunk by Plomb with 6:16 remaining. But the Black Knights missed their remaining six shots and turned the ball over three times the rest of the way, while NJIT extended its lead to a game-high 14 with the 79-65 victory.

The CIT does not use traditional brackets. As a result, the Highlanders will not learn the identity of their next opponent or the site of the game until the upcoming days.

NJIT which posted a 3-1 mark in the 2015 CIT, reaching the semifinals in their first Division I national postseason action, are now 4-1 all-time in the CIT after opening the 2016 version of the tournament with the victory over Army.

Wednesday's win was the fourth in a row for NJIT in the all-time series with Army and the Highlanders now hold a 4-3 lead over the Black Knights all-time.