NJIT will wrap up its three-game road trip on Sunday at Binghamton with tipoff slated for 2pm at Dr. Bai Lee Court at Events Center.
The game can be seen on ESPN3.
A simple way to find ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website, http://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.
Tim Heiman, the voice of the Bearcats, will be on play-by-play with expert analysis from
Chelsea Loscalzo.
All-Time Series
Binghamton leads the all-time series, 2-1, with the Bearcats, taking the last two meetings. NJIT won the first all-time meeting on December 6, 2014 (NJIT 52, Binghamton 48) in Newark, NJ.
Binghamton Bearcats Outlook
Binghamton enters Sunday's contest with a 5-4 record, most recently defeating Bryant, 55-47 paced by senior guard Imani Watkins, who scored a game-high 19 points. Watkins sits atop the America East with 20.0 points per game.
Also reaching double figures in scoring was sophomore guard Kai Moon, who had 10 points and a game-high four steals. In the paint, senior center Alyssa James blocked a game-high five shots and grabbed nine rebounds.
Kai Moon is the other double-figure scorer for the Bearcats, averaging 11.9 ppg and ranks second on the team with three-point field goals made (16).
James tops the team with 44 blocks, which ranks tied for first among the NCAA with Abby Rendle from William & Mary.
America East Preseason Poll
The Bearcats were selected to finish third out of nine teams this season in the Preseason America East Coaches poll. The third-place selection ties the program's highest preseason ranking.
Binghamton has made steady progress in the three seasons since Linda Cimino has been the head coach. After placing last in 2015, the Bearcats finished in a three-way tie for third place the following season and were fifth last year. In 2016, Binghamton advanced to the America East semifinals for the first time since 2012.
Watkins is a repeat pick while senior center Alyssa James makes her first appearance on the squad.Watkins, who is just the third Binghamton player ever to be selected twice during her career, was named first-team all-conference and second-team All-ECAC last year.
James, meanwhile, is the two-time America East Defensive Player of the Year. After being named third-team all-conference in 2016, she moved up to the second team last season. James enters her final campaign with 160 blocks, which ranks third all-time in Binghamton program history and sixth all time in the America East record book. In addition, she holds the America East single game and single season block records.
A Look at NJIT
NJIT is coming off a 64-50 loss at Lehigh on December 6. NJIT (0-9) was led by redshirt junior
Tatianna Torres, who netted 13 points on 5-of-12 from the field followed by
Taj Lewis 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman
Dez Allen chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
Torres paces the Highlander averaging double-digits (11.8) and ranks fourth on the boards (4.0). Her 23 assists and 16 steals paces the Highlanders.
Senior forward
Taj Lewis is averaging 10.9 ppg followed by freshman
Ellyn Stoll at 7.7 ppg. Stoll paces the Highlanders with 12 three-point field goals made.
Wellness and Events Center
NJIT celebrated a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on November 10, 2017 to open the new state-of-the-art Wellness and Events Center nicknamed the "WEC" – which will feature a 3,500-seat basketball arena and compare favorably with many Division I mid-major facilities throughout the country, allowing NJIT to continue to grow their men's and women's basketball programs.
The WEC will be three stories high and its north side will be all windows, through which natural light will flood into the building. The tall windows will overlook the new athletic field, which will open in Fall 2018.
ASUN Conference
The Highlanders, who became the eighth full member of the A-Sun effective July 1, 2015, will begin its third season in the ASUN Conference, will have 15 games, home-and-away, against the other seven conference teams, three of which played in the 2017 post-season.
NJIT was selected sixth in the 2017 Preseason ASUN Conference poll, combining for 21 points ahead of USC Upstate (19 points) and Lipscomb (14 points).
After winning last year's ASUN Conference women's basketball championship title, FGCU was picked to repeat by the league's head coaches in the 2017-18. The Eagles garnered six first-place votes among the head coaches in the league, while also being selected first in the media poll.
Next Up
NJIT will return to the Wellness and Events Center and play the next six games at home. The Highlanders will host Division III foe St. Joseph's Brooklyn on Monday night at 7pm.
