NJIT GAME HIGHLIGHTS (VIDEO)


PROVIDENCE, RI – Bears junior Obi Okolie scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half to guide Brown University to a 70-69, comeback victory over NJIT on Wednesday at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
 
The thriller literally came down to the wire. NJIT junior Diandre Wilson fired up a contested three-pointer just before the buzzer that fell a hair short of a becoming a game-winner.
 
With the loss, the Highlanders finished their non-conference schedule with a 7-8 record. The Bears, who played from behind for a majority of the affair, improved to 7-6 to wrap up non-league play.
 
Sophomore Anthony Tarke led all scorers with a game-high 17 points in the losing effort. The Gaithersburg, Md., native also tied game-highs for rebounds (8) and assists (6) – the latter of which was a career high.
 
The Highlanders played most of the game without preseason All-ASUN selection Abdul Lewis, as the junior forward and ASUN's leading rebounder departed the game at the 17:29 mark of the first half with a hip injury and did not return.
 
Brown did not take its first lead of the game until there was 10:00 remaining in the second half. Okolie hit a triple to put the Bears up, 53-50, as part of a 16-3 run that gave the home team its biggest advantage at 63-53 with 5:58 to go. Okolie contributed seven points during the span.
 
The biggest shot may have dropped before Brown took the lead. Sophomore Zach Hunsaker hit a game-tying trey from the top of the arc just as the shot clock was about to expire, evening the contest at 50 apiece. The name should sound familiar to Highlanders fans, as Zach's father, Dick, was head coach at Utah Valley University and his brother, Holton, was an all-conference point guard when the Wolverines and Highlanders participated in the Great West Conference.
 
After trailing by as many as 10 points, the Highlanders continued to claw their way back – scoring five of the final seven points of the game. Sophomore Shyquan Gibbs drained a runner in the lane to make it 68-66 Brown with 1:50 to go.
 
After two Bears free throws, Wilson knocked down a trey to pull the Highlanders within 70-69 with 0:40 remaining. NJIT then registered a defensive stop to get the ball back in the final seconds and set-up the game-winning attempt at the buzzer.
 
Shawndale Jones, who has come on strong in his freshman season, finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
Gibbs put forth a solid performance as well, rounding out NJIT's double-digit scorers with 13 points on an efficient 5-for-9 shooting.

With Lewis held to less than three minutes, the Highlanders also got an impressive effort from sophomore Taj Price. The Newark native contributed eight points, four rebounds and a block in 14 minutes -- a career high against a Division-I opponent. 
 
For the game, the Highlanders shot 40.0-percent (26-for-65) while the Bears finished at 49.1-percent. NJIT had a 34.8-percent to 25.0-percent edge from beyond the arc.
 
In an evenly played game, the teams committed the same number of turnovers (11) while NJIT held a 40-35 rebounding advantage.
 
The Highlanders fell to 2-16 all-time against Ivy League opponents after Brown avenged a 75-73 loss to NJIT in Newark from a season ago.
 
The Highlanders got off to a hot start on a cold night in New England and never trailed in the opening session. Tarke was busy out of the gates, connecting on the first basket of the game and scoring nine points in the first 14:01 to help build a 15-10 NJIT lead.
 
The margin swelled to 10 on a corner three by freshman Zach Cooks, putting NJIT up, 26-16.
 
Brown used 11 points off turnovers in the first half to pull to within 38-35 at the break. Tarke led all scorers with nine at the half – to go along with a team-high four assists -- while Gibbs posted eight. Freshman Desmond Cambridge led the home team in taking seven points into the locker room.
 
Both teams shot well in the first half, with Brown connecting at a 51.7-perent clip (15-for-29) and NJIT at 48.5-percent (16-for-33). However, the difference came in that the Highlanders were 5-for-11 from deep while the Bears drained just one of ten shots from downtown.
 
NJIT will next start ASUN conference play when the Highlanders host USC Upstate (5-12) at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
The Highlanders won their last meeting against the Spartans, 88-87, in the regular-season finale a season ago. Prior to that, NJIT had dropped the first three matchups all-time.
 
The Spartans were predicted to finish fourth in the ASUN  preseason coaches poll and sixth in the preseason media poll.