Game 1	NJIT (0-0; 22-13 in 2018-19) at Colgate (0-0; 24-11 in 2018-19
Date | Time	Wednesday, November 6, 2019 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Hamilton, NY | Cotterell Court
Live Video	Patriot League Network
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
All-time series	NJIT Leads 3-2
Game Notes	NJIT Notes (PDF) | Colgate Notes (PDF)

NEWARK, NJ--The NJIT men's basketball team will open its 2019-20 campaign on Wednesday, November 6, when it hits the road to take on Colgate, the reigning Patriot League Champions. 

Scouting the Highlanders
Fourth-year Head Coach Brian Kennedy will rely on three captains to lead the Highlanders on and off the court this season. Graduate student Reilly Walsh, senior Shyquan Gibbs and junior Zach Cooks were named captains prior to the season and combine for 147 games started in their careers. 

The trio started the first three contests of the 2018-19 season, before Walsh fell victim to a season-ending injury. Gibbs and Cooks started all 35 games, with Cooks averaging a team-high 17.4ppg en route to Second Team All-ASUN honors. Gibbs put together a consistent season, averaging 8.6 ppg and led the squad in assists. 

Also returning for the Highlanders is junior forward San Antonio Brinson, who started 32 games last season, while averaging 6.0 ppg and 4.1 rpg. NJIT's three sophomores -Kjell de Graaf, Souleymane Diakite and Diego Willis- are all expected to play bigger roles for NJIT after seeing a bit of action as freshmen. 

Additionally, Kennedy welcomes a six-player freshmen class that will provide depth in both the backcourt and front court. Levar Williams and Xavier Mayo project to see the most court time early, while Byron Breland III, Caleb Matthews and Jason Murphy provide Kennedy with other capable options off the bench. A sixth freshman, Da'mir Faison, has missed most of the preseason with an injury and is out indefinitely. 

Raider Report 
Colgate won the Patriot League Regular Season and Tournament Championships last season and return a ton of talent from that squad. Most, if not all, preseason polls have picked Colgate to repeat with last season's Patriot League POY  Rapolas Ivanauskas (15.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, .518 FG, .434 3PT, .777 FT), once again leading the way.  

Ivanauskas is joined in the frontcourt by 6-8 senior Will Rayman (13.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg, .429 3PT), a former Patriot Rookie of the Year and a two-time all-league selection. 

Jordan Burns (16.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.7 apg, .394 3PT) is the team's top returning guard and was a Second Team All-Patriot pick a year ago.

Matt Langel is in his eighth season leading the Raiders following assistant coaching stints at Temple and his alma mater, Penn. Langel has done a tremendous job turning around the Colgate program, highlighted by last season's trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 20th head coach in program history is a New Jersey native, hailing from the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown. 

All-Time Series
Overall, the Highlanders lead the series 3-2 after NJIT defeated the Raiders 81-78 in overtime last season in Newark. Four players in tonight's projected Highlanders' starting lineup scored 10+ in that game, led by a career-high 21 poins from Reilly Walsh.

11/6/18: NJIT 81, Colgate 78 (OT) -- Newark, NJ
12/12/17: Colgate 87, NJIT 76 -- Hamilton, NY
11/19/16: NJIT 74, Colgate 68  -- Newark, NJ
2/6/13: NJIT 77, Colgate 58  -- Hamilton, NY
2/1/12: Colgate 76, NJIT 73 -- Newark, NJ

Next Up
NJIT continues its three-game season opening road trip on Saturday when it travels to Providence to take on BIG EAST foe Providence. Tip-off is slated for 4:30pm in the Dunkin' Donuts Center.