NJIT GAME HIGHLIGHTS (VIDEO)

THE RAFF REPORT: POSTGAME ANALYSIS (VIDEO)

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NEWARK, NJ – The No. 4 seeded NJIT Highlanders put together a second half rally, but fell short in an 80-76 loss to the No. 5 seeded North Florida Ospreys by a score of 80-76 on Monday night in the ASUN Quarterfinals at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark.
 
Junior guard Donovan Greer banked in a three with 0:19 left to bring the Highlanders within one at 75-74, but North Florida made 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 17 seconds to preserve the win.
 
The Ospreys held a 73-65 lead with 1:52 to play before Shyquan Gibbs scored the next six points to cut the lead to a pair inside the final minute.
 
NJIT trailed by as many as 26 in the second half before putting together the rally to cut the lead to one.
 
A Wajid Aminu layup at the 11:49 mark of the second half made it a 54-38 game in favor of the Ospreys before Greer hit a jumper on the other end to kickstart a 20-8 run that brought NJIT within four at 62-58 with 5:26 left in the game.
 
UNF advances to play No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast in the ASUN semifinals on Thursday.
 
North Florida had just one field goal in the final eight minutes of the game as 18 of their final 20 points came from the free throw line.
 
As a whole, the Ospreys made 26-of-33 (78.8%) from the charity stripe in the game.
 
Freshman forward San Antonio Brinson had a career-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting to lead five Highlanders in double figures. Greer had 14 points on the strength of four three-pointers, while Gibbs added 13 points, sophomore forward Anthony Tarke came through with 12 points and freshman guard Zach Cooks chipped in with 10.
 
Garrett Sams paced North Florida with 28 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with the duo of Noah Horchler and Trip Day coming through with 12 points apiece.
 
NJIT shot 35.8% (24-of-67) from the floor and 23.1% (6-of-26) from deep, while UNF was 46.8% (22-of-47) from the field and 47.6% (10-of-21) from beyond the arc.
 
The Ospreys came storming out of the gate in this one as they scored the first 11 points of the game and led 21-6 after a three-pointer from Sams with 13:23 left in the opening stanza.
 
North Florida took a 39-19 lead into the locker room after shooting 51.7% from the field in the first half.
 
The Highlanders outrebounded the Ospreys by a 39-30 margin, led by 12 rebounds from Abdul Lewis and nine boards from Brinson. Horchler paced UNF with nine rebounds on the night.
 

Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry