NJIT Game Notes (PDF)
NEWARK, NJ – The Highlanders (9-19, 1-11 ASUN) will play their second game of a three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when they welcome the Stetson Hatters (11-18, 3-9 ASUN) to Fleisher Athletic Center for a 4 p.m. tip.
NJIT battled for all 40 minutes, but came up just short in an 80-73 loss to first-place Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday night, while Stetson snapped a three-game skid with an 83-72 win at USC Upstate.
The game can be seen on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT basketball games can be seen 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.
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, will be on play-by-play with expert analysis from Dave Calloway.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series is tied at two apiece and the Hatters have won the last two meetings after picking up an 82-76 win over the Highlanders on Jan. 19 in DeLand.
In the last meeting, NJIT put together a second half rally, but Stetson's Brian Pegg hit a layup with just over two minutes left to give the hosts the lead for good.
Sophomore center Abdul Lewis posted 20 points and 19 rebounds to pace NJIT, while senior guard Damon Lynn added 17 and senior guard Rob Ukawuba chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The 19 rebounds from Lewis broke the school's single-game record of 17, which had been set by Daquan Holiday on Jan. 12, 2013 vs. Chicago State.
Sophomore forward Derick Newton hit 7-of-13 from the field en route to a game-high 21 points for Stetson and was joined in double figures by junior guard Divine Myles (16 points) and junior guard Angel Rivera (14 points).
The Highlanders won two of the three meetings with the Hatters during the 2015-16 season with victories of 71-59 and 74-70. In the quarterfinals of the ASUN Tournament, the No. 7 seeded Hatters posted an 82-67 win over No. 2 seed NJIT.
MAD ABOUT THE HATTERS
Stetson led by as many as 21 points in the second half and sank 27-of-30 (90.0%) from the charity stripe in the 83-72 win at USC Upstate on Thursday.
Myles hit all eight of his free throw attempts and led the Hatters with 22 points, while Newton added 16 of his own and sophomore guard/forward Leo Goodman chipped in with 11.
The Hatters rank second in the ASUN in scoring at 78.9 ppg.
Newton leads the team in both scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 ppg). Myles (17.1 ppg) and junior guard Luke Doyle (10.8 ppg) also average double figures in points for head coach Corey Williams' squad.
Williams is in his fourth season at the helm of the Hatters and led last year's squad to a berth in the ASUN Championship game before falling to Florida Gulf Coast in overtime.
He played his college basketball at Oklahoma State under legendary coach Eddie Sutton and finished his career ranked eighth in school history with 1,320 career points.
Williams was a second round selection of the Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Draft and was also selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 12th round of the 1992 NFL Draft despite not playing football in high school or college.
The Macon, Ga., native was a member of the 1993 NBA Champions as the Bulls won their third straight title led by Michael Jordan.
During his coaching career, Williams spent time as an assistant at both Oral Roberts and Florida State.
Junior guard Matthew Cioce is a cousin of Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.
Junior forward Larry Dennis' father, Larry Sr., played his college basketball at Northwestern.
Sophomore forward Will Hollman's father, Mark, played basketball at SMU and currently serves as one of Stetson's team physicians.
Pegg's brother, Adam, was an all-conference player at Stetson from 2010-13.
Rivera's uncle, Walter Hodge, played basketball at Florida and was a member of the Gators' back-to-back national title teams in 2006 and 2007.
NJIT OUTLOOK
Head coach Brian Kennedy's squad battled for all 40 minutes, but fell victim to a late 13-4 run by FGCU in the 80-73 loss to the Eagles on Thursday night at Fleisher Athletic Center.
Senior forward Tim Coleman buried a three to give NJIT a 69-67 lead with 4:43 to play before FGCU's Brandon Goodwin answered with a three of his own on the other end to kick-start the 13-4 run for the Eagles over the final 4:16.
Coleman led the way offensively for the Highlanders with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, junior guard Chris Jenkins buried a career-high tying five triples en route to 17 points and Ukawuba added 14 off the bench.
Jenkins had previously sank five threes on Jan. 12 of this season vs. Jacksonville.
Freshman forward Anthony Tarke added 10 points on Thursday for NJIT and leads all ASUN freshmen in scoring at 11.8 ppg. Since being inserted into the starting lineup (four games), the Gaithersburg, Md., native is averaging 16.8 ppg.
The Highlanders have shot at least 50.0% from the floor in each of their last two games, including a season-high 58.0% clip on Saturday at Jacksonville.
With a win on Saturday, NJIT will post its 100th win in program history against a D-1 opponent.
Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry
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