NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


DELAND, FL – The NJIT Highlanders (8-8, 1-0 ASUN) look for a 2-0 start in league play when they head south to battle the Stetson Hatters (8-9, 0-1 ASUN) on Thursday night at the Edmunds Center in DeLand.
 
NJIT is coming off a 98-87 victory over USC Upstate in the team's ASUN opener on Saturday. The Highlanders' 98 points was a program record against a Division-I opponent. Meanwhile, Stetson dropped a 90-52 decision to Florida Gulf Coast in its league opener.
 
With a win, the Highlanders will snap a 14-game road losing streak that dates back to last season. NJIT's last road win was a 64-61 triumph at Stony Brook on Dec. 28, 2016.
 
The game can be seen live 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, 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.

 
All-Time Series
 
NJIT leads the all-time series by a 3-2 count after the two teams split a pair of meetings a year ago.
 
In the most recent meeting between the two teams, junior guard Reilly Walsh buried a three with 0:49 left and the Highlanders closed the game on a 20-7 run en route to a 60-56 win over Stetson on Feb. 18, 2017.
 
Stetson's senior guard Luke Doyle converted a pair of free throws with 7:15 left to open up a 49-40 advantage for the Hatters, but two free throws from sophomore forward Anthony Tarke kickstarted the afore-mentioned 20-7 run for NJIT.
 
Tarke paced NJIT with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Tim Coleman added 14 points and Walsh added a then-career high 10.
 
Derrick Newton tallied 17 points to lead the way offensively for the Hatters and was joined in double figures by Brian Pegg (12 points) and Doyle (10).
 
Stetson picked up an 82-76 victory in the last meeting in DeLand on Jan. 19, 2017.
 
In that contest, the Highlanders stormed back from a 13-point halftime deficit to tie things at 72 apiece on a layup from junior forward Abdul Lewis with 2:36 to play. Pegg responded with a layup of his own on the other end to give Stetson the lead for good at 74-72.
 
No. 7 seed Stetson picked up an 82-67 victory over No. 2 seed NJIT in the 2016 ASUN Quarterfinals.

 
Mad About The Hatters
 
The Hatters have dropped four of their last five after the 90-52 loss at Florida Gulf Coast (FGCU) on Saturday.
 
FGCU shot 60.0% (30-of-50) from the floor and 12-of-24 (50.0%) from beyond the arc in the contest, while Stetson was held to 31.7% (19-of-60) shooting from the field and 25.0% (7-of-28) from deep.
 
Senior guard Divine Myles paced the Hatters with 15 points, while Doyle added 11 of his own on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range and freshman forward Abayomi Iyiola chipped in with 11 points as well.
 
Myles leads the team and is tied for third in the ASUN in scoring at 17.0 ppg. Redshirt senior guard B.J. Glasford and Iyiola join Myles in double figures at 10.9 and 10.4 ppg, respectively.
 
Myles also sits fifth in the ASUN in field goal percentage at 52.9%.
 
Head coach Corey Williams is in his fifth season at the helm of the Hatters and led the 2015-16 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.
 
Senior guard Matthew Cioce is a cousin of Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.
 
Senior forward Larry Dennis' father, Larry Sr., played his college basketball at Northwestern.
 
Pegg's brother, Adam, was an all-conference player at Stetson from 2010-13.
 
Senior guard Angel 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
 
Five Highlanders scored in double figures and head coach Brian Kennedy's squad won an ASUN opener for the first time in program history with the 98-87 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday.
 
A three-pointer from Ramel Thompkins in the early going gave the Spartans a 14-7 lead with 14:34 left in the first half, but freshman guard Shawndale Jones hit a layup on the other end to spark an 18-4 run for the Highlanders over the next four plus minutes.
 
A free throw from Tarke capped the run at the 9:45 mark of the opening stanza with NJIT holding a 25-18 advantage.
 
USC Upstate rallied to tie things at 39 apiece in the final minute of the first half, but the Highlanders scored the final five points of the half and took a 44-39 lead into the locker room.
 
The Spartans would not get closer than five the rest of the way.
 
Tarke matched his season-high with 21 points to lead the five Highlanders in double figures, Walsh and freshman guard Zach Cooks had 15 points apiece, Jones chipped in with 13 off the bench and sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs added 12.
 
The 15 points for Walsh tied his career-high after he previously scored 15 in the ASUN quarterfinals on Feb. 27, 2017 at Lipscomb.
 
In his last 10 games, Tarke is averaging 17.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 1.7 spg.
 
Jones has scored in double digits in four of his last six games and is averaging 11.7 ppg during that stretch.
 
NJIT has made their mark defensively as the team leads the ASUN in steals (8.3) and ranks second in scoring defense (73.3 ppg). The 8.3 steals per game is tied for 27^th best in the nation.
 
With a win, the Highlanders will start 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign in the Great West Conference.


Write-up Courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry