NJIT: Welcome Back, Greer (VIDEO)


NASHVILLE, TN– Lipscomb (15-11, 7-2 ASUN) drained 15 three-pointers en route to an 87-63 win over the Highlanders (9-16, 1-8 ASUN) on Saturday night at Allen Arena in Nashville.
 
Both teams shot well from downtown as NJIT hit 10-of-20 (50%) and the Bison sank 15-of-34 (44.1%).
 
Sophomore guard Donovan Greer made his first appearance of the season for head coach Brian Kennedy's squad and buried three triples en route to a career-high 11 points. The Houston native missed the first 24 games of the season a severe ankle and returned to hit his first four shots as a Division-I player -- three from downtown -- and finished 4-for-5 from the floor.
 
Greer transferred to NJIT after spending the 2015-16 season at San Jacinto C.C. (Texas).
 
Junior guard Chris Jenkins also knocked down a trio of threes for NJIT.
 
In the first half, freshman Anthony Tarke's dunk brought the Highlanders within four at 20-16 before George Brammeier hit a layup on the other end to kickstart an 18-7 run for Lipscomb and the hosts took a 34-23 lead into the locker room.
 
Jenkins hit a three early in the second half to bring NJIT within eight at 37-29, but that was the closest they would get the rest of the way.
 
Following the triple from Jenkins, Lipscomb responded with a 17-3 run to open up a 54-32 advantage with 11:57 to play.
 
Sophomore center Abdul Lewis hit 7-of-12 from the field and both of his three-point attempts to lead the way for the Highlanders with a game-high 21 points while Tarke chipped in 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Greer tallied his 11 points.
 
This marked the fifth time in the last six games that Lewis has scored 20 points or more and the Newark native is averaging 18.8 ppg during that span.
 
In fact, over its past three games, NJIT has received 123 of its 180 points (68.3%) from the trio of Lewis, Tarke and freshman guard Shyquan Gibbs.
 
Sophomore guard Garrison Mathews and junior guard Nathan Moran each poured in 18 points apiece to lead Lipscomb, while Josh Williams contributed 14 points of his own.
 
All 18 of Moran's points came on the strength of six three-pointers.
 
As a team, NJIT shot 39.7% (23-58) from the floor and Lipscomb sat at a 49.2% clip (30-61).
 
The Highlanders will be back in action on Thursday night when they head to the Sunshine State to battle North Florida (10-16, 5-4 ASUN). Opening tip from UNF Arena is slated for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN3. 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry