NJIT Game Highlights (Video)


FORT MYERS, FL – Senior Brandon Goodwin amassed game-highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds as Florida Gulf Coast University defeated the NJIT men's basketball team, 68-54, on Saturday at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
 
The double-double was Goodwin's fourth of the season and eighth of his FGCU career. With a game-high eight assists, the University of Central Florida transfer was two helpers shy of his first career triple-double.
 
The Eagles, the preseason favorite in the ASUN, won their fifth-consecutive game to improve to 12-8 overall and 3-0 in in the ASUN conference. The Highlanders fell to 8-10 overall and 1-2 in league play after dropping both games on the Florida swing.
 
Freshman Zach Cooks led NJIT in scoring with 12 points while classmate Shawndale Jones (11) was the Highlanders' only other double-digit scorer. Senior Abdul Lewis, who returned after missing the first two games of conference play, added eight points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.
 
Junior Zach Johnson was the Eagles' only other player to reach double-figures in scoring with 19 points.
 
This was a battle of the top two scoring defenses in the ASUN, and game played out in that fashion. The top-ranked Eagles, who entered allowing just 70.1 points per game, held the Highlanders to 54 points on 37.0-percent shooting to pave the way to their third-straight series victory over the Highlanders.
 
Of note was FGCU's ability to clamp down in the second half, holding NJIT to just 26 points on 9-for-31 (29.0%) shooting. The Highlanders endured a similar fate in their loss Thursday at Stetson, as the Hatters kept them under wraps with 26 points on 8-for-28 (28.7%) shooting in the final stanza.
 
That said, the Highlanders held the Eagles to 68 points – FGCU's lowest output yet in ASUN play and a total of 11 points below its season average. NJIT entered ranked second in the league in allowing 73.6 points per game.
 
Freshman Zach Cooks came to life in the second half, scoring nine of his dozen points to keep the Highlanders alive. However, after falling behind by as many as 16 points with 6:22 remaining, the Highlanders were never able to cut the deficit into single-digits.
 
Offensive rebounds also plagued the men from Newark, as the Eagles recorded 12 such caroms for a 15-9 advantage on second-chance points.
 
The Highlanders held a couple of leads early in the game. Their last came at 17-15 with 8:03 left in the first half, after Jones recorded a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup.
 
FGCU did not take kindly to falling behind. The Eagles soared ahead for good by scoring the next nine points of the game. The run started with a go-ahead triple by junior Dinero Mercurius.
 
Mercurius, a three-time transfer, then recorded a theft that led to the first of three-consecutive layups off steals. The last of which was converted by Goodwin to give FGCU a 24-17 lead with 6:19 to go in the half.
 
The momentum stayed with the home team. After NJIT Head Coach Brian Kennedy used a timeout with 5:07 to go in the half, FGCU completed a 14-2 run with a steal and a thunderous dunk by Johnson. By this point, NJIT had committed nine turnovers over the first 14:53.
 
Turnovers proved to be a significant problem for NJIT in the first half. The Highlanders were forced into 13 giveaways that gave the Eagles a 19-9 edge off turnovers. NJIT took care of the basketball much more effectively in the second half, committing just four turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
 
A huge play that may have solidified the FGCU win occurred with 11:19 remaining in the second half. On a runout following a missed shot by junior Mohamad Bendary, the Eagles pushed ahead for an alley-oop from Johnson to junior Michael Gilmore – who jammed home the basket while being fouled to the delight of a crowd of 3,517.
 
Not only did he compete the three-point play to extend the lead to a then-game-high 12 points at 50-38, it also put NJIT leading scorer Anthony Tarke to the bench with his fourth personal foul.
 
Tarke, who entered the evening ranked sixth in the ASUN in scoring at 15.2 points per game, was held to  six points on 2-of-11 shooting – which snapped a streak of 11-consecutive games with double-digit points. The sophomore finished with eight rebounds, tying junior Reilly Walsh for the Highlanders' team high.
 
FGCU went into the locker with a 36-28 lead paced by 16 first-half points from Goodwin. Despite trailing, the Highlanders held a shooting advantage of 47.8-percent (11-for-23) to 43.3-percent (13-for-30).
 
Jones led NJIT in the first stanza with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting while Tarke grabbed a game-high six rebounds.
 
The Highlanders will look to bounce back when they host North Florida (8-12, 2-1) on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark, where NJIT has posted an 8-2 record in its beautiful new arena.