VIDEO: NJIT Highlights | Raff Report

NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team was defeated 65-54 by visiting Jacksonville on Saturday at the Wellness and Events Center. 

The loss was the third straight for NJIT (7-16, 4-6 ASUN), while the Dolphins (12-14, 5-6 ASUN) bounced back after a loss to Liberty on Thursday.

"I was once again proud of the way we battled back in the second half," explained Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "But unfortunately, we missed a lot of shots throughout the game and found ourselves in the familiar situation of being down in the second half. Credit goes to Jacksonville though, they were great defensively, especially on the perimeter."

The lead changed eight times in a back-and-forth first half before the Dolphins were able to take a four-point lead into halftime. 

Jacksonville increased its lead to as many as 17 with just more than eight minutes to play in the game, but a three-pointer from Zach Cooks and a quick layup from Levar Williams capped an 11-0 run that made the margin just six with 4:36 on the clock. 

The Dolphins answered with the next four points and were able to increase their lead to as many as 12 before ultimately winning by the 11-point margin.

Zach Cooks and San Antonio Brinson each scored 15 points to pace the Highlanders with Cooks also grabbing a team-high-tying seven rebounds. Souleymane Diakite scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and swatted a game-high four shots. 

Destin Barnes led JU with a game-best 17 points and David Bell, who entered Saturday as one of just two ASUN players averaging a double-double scored 14 points and pulled down 11 boards. 

Bell's 11 rebounds were a game-high for the Dolphins, who out-reboundeded the Highlanders 43-32.

NJIT will now hit the road for a pair of ASUN contests, first taking on Lipscomb on Thursday in Nashville before heading to Lynchburgh, VA, for a Saturday evening matchup with Liberty. 

"Our guys have played well on the road and have been able to feed off the visiting crowd a bit," concluded Kennedy. "We're going to need that to happen again this week."