LYNCHBURG, VA - The eighth-seeded NJIT men's basketball team put together a valiant effort in a defensive battle at top-seeded Liberty Tuesday, but ultimately fell 55-49 in the ASUN Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at the Vines Center.

Liberty (28-4) advances to host fourth-seeded Stetson in the semifinals on Thursday, while NJIT concludes its season with a 9-21 record.

Both teams struggled offensively in Tuesday's matchup as NJIT shot 32.7% (18-of-55) from the field and 21.1% (4-of-19) from three-point range, while Liberty was 37.0% (17-of-46) overall and 20.0% (4-of-20) from deep.

"Our gameplan was to try and make them take tough threes and we did just that," said NJIT Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "Unfortunately, we couldn't take advantage of our defense and make some shots on the other end of the floor."

Souleymane Diakite scored the first point of the game on a free throw before LIberty answered with six straight en route to a 15-5 lead.

The Flames led 22-12 with just over three minutes left in the first half, but NJIT scored the final four points of the frame and trailed by six, 22-16, at halftime.

San Antonio Brinson opened the second half with a three-pointer to get the Highlanders within three, which is as close as they'd get as Liberty answered Brinson's triple with a 10-1 run to go ahead by a game-high 13.

NJIT never went away, however, and was able to cut the lead to five on a jumper from Zach Cooks with just over a minute left.

Liberty was able to build its lead back up to eight before Cooks drained a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to make the final margin six points.

Cooks led all scorers with 17 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, one off the 5'9 guard's career-high, to complete his second double-double of the season and third of his career. Cooks was joined in double figures by Brinson and Diakite, who each tallied 13 points. 

Caleb Homesley, who was named the ASUN Player of the Year earlier Tuesday, led three flames in double figures with 14 points.