NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NASHVILLE, TN – The NJIT Highlanders (11-12, 4-4 ASUN) look for their second straight win when they battle the Lipscomb Bison (15-8, 5-3 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at Allen Arena in Nashville. Opening tip is set for 5 p.m.
 
The Highlanders are coming off a 74-71 victory over Kennesaw State on Monday, while Lipscomb outlasted USC Upstate in a 110-106 double overtime win.
 
Lipscomb has won eight of nine at Allen Arena this season.
 
This marks the second meeting in a week between the Highlanders and the Bison after the latter notched an 86-79 victory on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC).
 
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
 
Lipscomb leads the all-time series by a 5-1 margin and has won each of the last four meetings between the two teams.
 
On Jan. 27 in Newark, the Bison rallied from a 19-point second half deficit and scored the first five points of overtime en route to the 86-79 win.
 
Sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs hit a layup to make it a 43-24 game in favor of the Highlanders with 18:54 to play before junior forward Matt Rose hit a three on the other end to kickstart the afore-mentioned 41-21 run for Lipscomb over the next 12 plus minutes.
 
A pair of free throws from junior guard Garrison Mathews opened up a 67-64 lead for the Bison with 6:44 left in regulation.
 
NJIT would not go quietly however as head coach Brian Kennedy's squad scored the next six points including a layup from sophomore forward Anthony Tarke that gave the hosts a 70-67 advantage with 5:04 to play.
 
The two teams traded punches over the final five minutes of regulation and a Rob Marberry jumper handed Lipscomb a 75-74 edge with 0:37 left before Tarke made one of two from the charity stripe and tied the game at 75 apiece at the 0:21 mark.
 
Lipscomb won all three meetings a year ago including a 97-66 win in the ASUN Quarterfinals on Feb. 27, 2017 in Nashville.
 

Bison Bites
 
The Bison trailed 106-105 in the final minute of double overtime on Monday at USC Upstate before Marberry's jumper at the 0:41 mark gave the visitors the lead for good.
 
Marberry had a career-high 38 points on 13-of-19 shooting to lead five Bison in double figures, while Mathews added 25 points, sophomore guard Michael Buckland came through with 15, Rose had 11 and sophomore guard Kenny Cooper added 10 points of his own.
 
Mathews notched his 1,500^th career point in the victory.
 
Lipscomb has won four straight after a 1-3 start in league play.
 
Head coach Casey Alexander's squad leads the ASUN in scoring at 81.4 ppg, but shoots a league worst 31.8% from beyond the arc.
 
Mathews leads the team and ASUN in scoring at 22.1 ppg, a total that is tied for 11^th in the nation. Marberry checks in at 15.7 ppg and ranks second in the league in field goal percentage at 59.6%.
 
Alexander is in his fourth season at the helm of the Bisons after previously spending two seasons as the head coach at Stetson.
 
Prior to becoming a head coach, Alexander played his college basketball at Belmont and spent 16 seasons as an assistant with the Bruins.
 
During his tenure as an assistant, Belmont made four trips to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Alexander led the Bruins to a 119-25 record during his playing days and was inducted into the Belmont Hall of Fame in 2005.
 
Mathews' grandfather played football at Ole Miss and was a member of the 1962 National Championship team.
 
Freshman center Ahsan Abdullah's brother, Marcus, played college basketball at Georgia Tech and is currently a member of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.
 

NJIT Outlook
 
For the second time in five days, Kennesaw State put together a late rally, but the Highlanders held on in Monday's 74-71 victory.
 
KSU front rimmed a three from just inside midcourt that would have tied the game at the buzzer.
 
Tarke hit a free throw with 0:03 left that made it a 74-71 game in favor of NJIT.
 
The second half featured multiple runs on both sides as the two teams exchanged blows.
 
Junior forward Abdul Lewis' basket with 1:42 left opened up a 68-62 advantage for the Highlanders, but Kennesaw State would not go quietly as the visitors made it a one possession game on a few different occasions.
 
Lewis had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds for NJIT and was joined in double figures by Tarke (18 points, eight rebounds) and freshman guard Shawndale Jones (10 points).
 
The 20 points for Lewis mark his second 20 plus point output of the season after he scored 23 on Nov. 28 vs. LIU-Brooklyn.
 
NJIT boasts a balanced attack offensively as five players average more than 7.0 ppg: Tarke (15.2 ppg), Lewis (10.7 ppg), junior guard Diandre Wilson (10.7 ppg), freshman guard Zach Cooks (7.8 ppg) and Jones (7.1 ppg).
 
Tarke's 15.2 ppg rank eighth in the ASUN, while Lewis sits second in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and Cooks is fourth in three-point percentage at 44.4%.


Write-up Courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry