Box Score
NJIT Game Highlights (VIDEO)


JACKSONVILLE, FL --  Sophomore Anthony Tarke scored a team-high 18 points, guiding NJIT to a nerve-shattering, 71-69 win on Thursday at Swisher Gym in Jacksonville.
 
Yet, it was a pair of free-throws by freshman Zach Cooks with 3.8-seconds left that provided the dramatic, game-winning points.
 
After Jacksonville tied the game, 69-69, with 9.5-seconds left, Cooks drove the length of the floor to pick up a key shooting foul on junior Jace Hogan while driving to the basket.
 
Moments later, Hogan missed a highly contested three-pointer at the buzzer to give NJIT a significant victory in terms of ASUN standings.
 
With the win, the Highlanders (13-14, 6-6) snapped their two-game skid while handing the Dolphins (12-17, 6-6) their fourth-consecutive defeat.
 
NJIT is now in a four-way tie for third place in the conference with Jacksonville, Kennesaw State and North Florida. Two of these teams will clinch a home game in the quarterfinals of the 2018 ASUN Tournament. Remember, the Highlanders had been predicted to finish last in both the conference's coaches poll and media poll.
 
Hogan finished with a game-high 20 points. Juniors Diandre Wilson (17 points) and Abdul Lewis (12) also finished in double-figures for the Highlanders, while senior Devin Harris (19), sophomore Tanner Rubio (11) and senior Cody Helgeland (11) reached double-digits for the hosts.
 
The Highlanders also snapped a three-game losing streak to the Dolphins.
 
The prior three meetings in the series -- all JU wins -- were determined by a total of six points, as the Dolphins eked out wins of 76-73, 82-81 and 63-61.
 
In terms of tightness, this game was no different.
 
NJIT led for the majority of the contest, though the Highlanders advantage never grew past eight points. In fact, the final 11 minutes of the contest were played with the teams separated by no more than five points.
 
With NJIT up 59-58 with 3:20 to go, Harris hit a spinning runner down the lane to give the Dolphins their first lead of the second half -- and JU's first advantage since the 11-minute mark of the first stanza.
 
That said, the JU lead was short-lived.

Tarke responded 24 seconds later with his first triple of the night, allowing the visitors to snatch back the lead. Thirty-eight seconds later, Wilson converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give the Highlanders a two-possession buffer.
 
NJIT certainly needed those points, as the Dolphins would later storm back with a triple by Helgeland and a lay-up by Harris to tie the game inside of 10 seconds before Cooks sealed their fate.
 
Statistically, the game was just as tight as the final score indicated.

The Highlanders finished shooting 40.0-percent (25-for-50) overall and 36.8-percent (7-for-19) from beyond the arc. The Dolphins ended at 44.1-percent (26-for-59) from the floor, but 33.3-percent (6-for-18) from downtown.
 
The teams finished even in rebounds at 33-33. Although JU had a slight edge in turnovers, 11-10, the rivals both scored an identical 15 points off of turnovers.
 
Thanks to the two key free-throws by Cooks, the Highlanders' advantage from the charity stripe -- 77.4-percent to 73.3-percent -- may have proven the determining factor on Thursday evening.
 
NJIT got off to a slow start at Swisher Gym, but Brian Kennedy's troops wound up taken a 31-25 lead into the break.
 
Down 15-9 with 13:26 to go in the first half, the Highlanders took control of the game for quite a long stretch. A pair of free throws by Lewis kick-started a 13-0 run which allowed NJIT to go up by seven points.
 
Wilson drained a pair of triples during the span, which ended on a two-handed jam by freshman San Antonio Brinson on a fine feed from Lewis. By the time Brinson detached from the rim, the Highlanders held a then game-high, 22-15 lead with 8:11 in the stanza.
 
Wilson, who missed the last game on Saturday with an ankle injury, led NJIT at the half with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, 3-of-4 from downtown. Tarke, who scored the Highlanders' first four points of the game after they started in an 8-0 hole, posted seven points in the first frame.
 
Hogan paced all scorers with 12 points at the break. For the contest, the Navy transfer grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Lewis led NJIT with eight rebounds while Tarke was not far behind with seven boards.
 
Cooks, who showed his nerves on the game-winning free-throws, finished with seven points and a team-high three assists.

Tarke has now led the Highlanders in scoring 14 times this season. He entered the night as one of just three players in ASUN ranking Top 20 in per-game averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. One of the other members of this elite trio, JU freshman JD Notae, did not play on Thursday due to a foot injury.

Since the start of conference play, Tarke is averaging 17.3 points per game -- which ranks in the Top 5 in the ASUN.
 
The Highlanders will remain in Jacksonville for their next contest – a huge bout at North Florida (12-17, 6-6) on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.
 
In the first meeting, NJIT throttled UNF, 91-59, on Jan. 18 at the Wellness and Events Center. The 32-point margin of victory was the Highlanders' largest in an ASUN contest and their biggest win over a Division-I opponent since a 94-51 rout of Longwood University on Feb. 25, 2012.